Praising God in Difficult Times
The Church Of Christ commemorates its 106th anniversary in a thanksgiving worship service to God led by the Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo. Following the Philippines’s General Community Quarantine guidelines, the congregational worship service held at the Central Temple of the Iglesia Ni Cristo was conducted by implementing numerous safety precautions for all in attendance.
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Anniversary Thanksgiving 2020 TEMPLO CENTRAL
Sis. Alexandra Megia: To be able to sing in [the] Temple, in the house of worship, the joy that you feel in your heart just singing praises to God,
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Sis. Alexandra Megia
Choir Member
Sis. Alexandra: just to be able to offer our thanksgiving here in the Temple, it’s overwhelming.
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Dr. Rodolfo Domingo
M.D. Plastic Reconstructive Surgeon
Dr. Rodolfo Domingo: We’re very thankful that we were able to worship again here in the Temple.
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Sis. Lourdes Enriquez
Deaconess
Sis. Lourdes Enriquez: Every night, my family holds devotional prayers, hoping that the pandemic would soon be over and that we’d be able to return to the Temple to hold worship services here and perform our Church duties.
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Bro. Salvador Enriquez
Deacon
Bro. Salvador Enriquez: We’ve waited more than four months to hold worship services in the house of worship again, especially in the Holy Temple.
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Bro. Jessie Capiendo
Secretary
Bro. Jessie Capiendo: This is God’s answer to our devotional prayers. Because we were very eager to return to the Temple to hold our thanksgiving worship service. So, I am very happy.
Sis. Alexandra: I’ve missed it. I’ve missed it so much. It felt so good to be able to perform again, to sing hymns of praises to God.
The beginning of this year we saw countries around the world tackling the spread of a novel coronavirus,
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SARSCOV-2
which causes the COVID-19 disease.
The pandemic has since affected millions of people globally. To curb the spread of COVID-19, various governments implemented community quarantines and consequently, the prohibition of large religious gatherings.
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Bro. Jessie Capiendo
Secretary
Bro. Jessie: Because the Church Of Christ follows the guidelines laid out by the government, we held household worship services wherein the lessons outlined by the Church Administration are read and serve as our guide that we receive weekly.
Some of these household worship services throughout the past few months were led by the Executive Minister of the Church Of Christ through the use of video conferencing.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the situation in different places globally has been changing. And so, countries have been reassessing the parameters of their respective community quarantines, to give their citizens the opportunity to continue in earning a living, while at the same time keeping them safe.
Since July 10, religious gatherings have been allowed to commence in areas of the Philippines under new General Community Quarantine guidelines.
And on July 19, 2020 the Executive Minister of the Church Of Christ, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, led the Anniversary Thanksgiving worship service at the Central Temple of the Church, commemorating the Church Of Christ’s 106th anniversary. This was also linked to 3,822 remote sites all over the Philippines. To ensure that this gathering was in line with the guidelines of the General Community Quarantine, various safety measures were implemented leading up to and during the event.
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Dr. Rodolfo Domingo
M.D. Plastic Reconstructive Surgeon
Dr. Rodolfo Domingo: All sorts of things that can prevent the outbreak of a virus in the congregation has been thought of and has been mitigated. We asked our brethren to use face masks, eye protection or face shield.
In addition to these precautions, the following measures were also implemented.
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RAPID TESTING OF ALL ATTENDEES
Each worshiper and performing Church officer underwent COVID-19 rapid testing during the week leading up to the Anniversary Thanksgiving, with only those with no COVID-19 being allowed to attend in the Temple.
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ONLY AGES 22-59 PERMITTED TO ATTEND
Attendance restrictions were also placed on age groups at high risk of
contracting COVID-19.
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SANITIZING STATIONS
Sanitizing stations were set up at key areas of the Temple and compound.
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STERILIZATION OF THE WHOLE VENUE WITH UV-C LIGHT
The whole Temple was disinfected with chemical agents used in hospital surgeries, as well as the use of UV-C light.
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AIR PURIFIERS INSTALLED
The Temple was also fitted with air purifiers, which capture particles as small as 0.1 microns.
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ONLY 10% MAXIMUM CAPACITY
During the event, the Temple was filled up to only 10% of its maximum capacity as laid out by the GCQ guidelines.
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MINIMUM OF 6 FEET APART
Each worshiper was seated at least six feet apart, indicated by social distancing markers placed on the ground.
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SOCIAL DISTANCING
Social distancing was also strictly implemented as the worshipers entered the Temple and as they vacated afterwards.
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PLEXIGLASS BARRIERS
Plexiglass barriers were also installed on the pulpit to facilitate social distancing during the homily of the Executive Minister and prayers led by accompanying ministers.
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Bro. Jessie Capiendo
Secretary
Bro. Jessie: I will follow whatever the requirements may be as long as I’m able to worship God because that’s one of my duties as a member of the Church Of Christ.
Sis. Alexandra Megia: In the lesson today, it was mentioned that we should always give thanks to God, no matter what.
Bro. Salvador Enriquez: The pandemic cannot hinder us; rather, this is a good opportunity to prove to God that even if there is increasing poverty, especially since as a result of the pandemic, many people are losing their jobs, we will all the more give thanks to God and be grateful.
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Bro. Salvador Enriquez
Deacon
Bro. Salvador Enriquez: There are many things I should thank God for. I still have my life and strength. I have my family and we’re able to continue serving God, even during the pandemic.
Sis. Alexandra Megia: For us members, we’re just thankful that we still have this life and strength and still able to worship God because He keeps us safe. He provides us everything that we need, even like a peace of mind. For us what’s important is that we’re members,
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Sis. Alexandra Megia
Choir Member
Sis. Alexandra: and we have this right and privilege to worship God. Without my membership I don’t know how I would be in today’s world. My membership keeps me grounded and that’s what I’m most thankful for.
During this worship service, the Executive Minister also launched the new theme of the Church, which is based on I Peter 1:13,
“Put all your hope in the grace that will be yours.”
Sis. Alexandra: My conviction going forward, I want to do the best that I can to help in the works of propagation and even edification or to just sing like my heart out you know. I want to do the best that I can to help in this last work of salvation.
For more news on worship services and activities led by the Executive Minister, please stay tuned for more Executive News Special Updates and Executive News Feature Episodes. From the Executive News team, Happy 106th Anniversary!
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IGLESIA NI CRISTO
– CHURCH OF CHRIST –
106TH ANNIVERSARY
Put all your hope in the grace that will be yours
BASED ON
1 PETER 1:13
Easy-to-Read Bible