COVID-19: Bishop Oyedepo cancels crossover night/vigil service

Amidst rumours that some participants at its recent annual Shiloh programme may have contracted COVID-19, the Living Faith Church aka Winners’ Chapel, has cancelled its 2020/2021 Crossover Night/Vigil Service.

The Church’s Crossover Night/Vigil Service usually lasted from around 10 pm on every 31st December to about 4 a.m. of the first day of the New Year.

But TVN learnt that the overnight Crossover Night/Vigil Service will not hold next Thursday, the last day of the year.

Pastors of Living Faith churches across the country announced to their various congregations during on Sunday that instead of the Crossover/Night Vigil Service, there will be an early evening service that will begin around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. on Thursday and last between two and three hours.

It was learnt that in addition, there will be another service, which will include live broadcast from Faith Tabernacle Ota, Ogun State that will commence at 7 a.m. on Friday, the first day of the year.

Though no reason was given for the cancellation, it was learnt that the Church may have chosen to defer to the 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. national curfew imposed by the President Task Force on COVID-19 to control the spread of the virus.

Lagos State Government had last week also asked churches to comply with the curfew by not holding crossover service.

Reports in some online media organisations had also indicated that some Pastors of the church contracted COVID-19 at the 2020 Shiloh programme.

But the General Overseer of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo had consistently opposed lockdown measures imposed by government to control the spread of COVID-19.

Oyedepo had during the last Shiloh programme of the church indicated that he has zero regards for COVID-19, describing it as ‘a lie from the pit of hell.’

According to him, the so-called symptoms of COVID-19 were everyday symptoms.

He said, “Somebody has a temperature and then (they say) he has COVID-19. Everybody here has a temperature. You can’t be in the tropics and not have a temperature.

He also compared COVID-19 to a graven image that is only real for those who believe it exists.

“This graven image, I refuse to bow to it. Is COVID-19 real? Yes and no. Those who believe in it, it’s real to them, those who don’t believe in it, it’s not real,” he said.