This archive report was first published on 13 July 2020.
CITAM Bishop Urges Churches to Venture Online to Reach Youth ¶
As the country prepares for the phased reopening of places of worship on July 14, 2020, CITAM Bishop David Oginde has urged churches to venture online to reach the youth.
According to Oginde, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented religious organizations across the world with an opportunity to preach to millennials, who have been drifting away from physical churches and paying attention to advancements in cyberspace.
"In 10 years, young people will not come into church buildings. The majority of people are in the cyberspace currently. If we do not reach people where they are then they will follow others who will reach out to them," Oginde said during a talk show on Hope FM on July 13, 2020.
Oginde, who is also the Chancellor of Pan Africa Christian (PAC) University, emphasized the need for churches to be flexible and learn from globally established churches that have thrived by offering online services to the audience.
"The church needs to understand the needs of adventurous young people. Pentecostal churches in the 80s and 90s moved people from mainline churches by introducing more liberal ways. Young people from universities and colleges brought lessons from Christian Unions (CU) to the leadership of the conventional churches and drew back the youths that had left," he explained.
However, the CITAM congregation that Oginde ministers to has announced that it will not open its doors for in-person worship citing the increased risk of congregants contracting COVID-19.
"We are of the collective view that we should not reopen our assemblies immediately. This is especially in the interest of preserving lives in this period when the COVID-19 infections are rising sharply. We shall, however, continue to monitor the situation and advise accordingly," the bishop wrote in a statement.
