Bhubaneswar: The Church of Christ (Union Church) in the city has decided not to open on Christmas day considering the likely threat posed by the large crowd expected on the day.
In a release, the oldest Protestant church on Lokseva Marg, thanked the administration for allowing churches to open on the Christmas day this year on the condition that limited number of people shall attend the worship observing the COVID-19 restrictions with prior permission.
But the church took the decision not to open on the day on the ground that it anticipates a large crowd to assemble at a time. Church worships entail a crowd sitting
together for one to two hours at a fixed time.
“The church decision is aimed at eliminating the possibility of the spread of the virus though our large number of worshippers had been looking forward to this joyous occasion. Though as a congregation we eagerly look forward to worshipping together
again, we are willing to wait for a while more,” said secretary of the church Paresh Das.
However, the church worship on Christmas day will be available on YouTube (English worship at 10 am and Odia worship at 4 pm). Rev. Madhusudan Das from Hyderabad will be the special guest speaker on the occasion. A special Christmas eve program will also be available on YouTube at 7 pm on December 24.
