The Head of the Ecclesiastical Commission was accompanied by five pastors of the Independent denominations, seeking to have Cabinet expand the number of congregants who can gather for regular church services.
According to Cabinet notes dated, 22nd of April 2021, an agreement was made after hearing from each of the pastors, that with infection rates falling, the restriction which limited attendance to 25 persons is withdrawn. Churches may revert to the position which governed last June 2020.
The number of congregants allowed in a church will be determined by the size of the edifice. The congregants are to sit six feet apart, except for households that are allowed to sit together but six feet away from the next household or congregant.
The Cabinet noted that the church community is the most compliant with the protocols. It added that the Churches have also agreed to encourage their congregants to take the vaccine. The church leaders indicated that they were already exhorting their congregations to vaccinate.
For those who claimed that their decision not to vaccinate is personal, the pastors noted that there can be no such personal decision when infection of others is a probability; both are incompatible.
The mental health of those who must remain in isolation for weeks was also discussed by the pastors; their congregants require consultations and certified experts have been recruited to assist with this element of their pastoring.
Funerals and weddings remain at 25 persons because of the intimacy which is practised historically at these events. Attendees are discouraged from loitering at the cemeteries but disperse following burials.
The selling of drinks on the outside of the cemeteries is also discouraged since it causes clustering and a greater probability of infectious spread.
