Church cross (※This photo is not directly related to the content of the article). News 1
– The two churches in Busan, who have been accused of violating the quarantine regulations several times, are suffering from a headache as they predict that they will continue to worship face-to-face in the future.
According to the city of Busan on the 6th, the churches in the Busan area that violate the quarantine rules and enforced face-to-face worship despite the 2.5 step social distancing on the 15th are Gangseo-gu Church A and Seo-gu Church B.
The two churches have been accused of violating the ban on face-to-face worship by Busan City six times and nine times, respectively.
On the 3rd, A church held a face-to-face service for about an hour with 1,000 members attending. From this day on, Church A expressed its position that it would continue to worship in the future.
Church A is planning to do the Wednesday service on the 6th and the Sunday service on the 10th as a face-to-face service. Accordingly, Gangseo-gu has given the first administrative guidance on the face-to-face service held last weekend. The plan is to conduct additional inspections at the demand service on the evening of the 6th. An official from Seo-gu Kang said, “If it is confirmed that the worship service was held in person on the 6th, we will file a complaint.”
A church has been prosecuted six times by conducting a face-to-face service during the second coronavirus outbreak in August-October.
A church official said, “After the social distancing upgrade, we have observed non-face-to-face worship, but as the distancing continues to extend, we have reached a point where it is difficult to bear any more.” The official said, “You can use buses and subways, and in non-capital areas other than Busan, face-to-face worship is possible. However, it is not fair to prevent churches in the Busan area from facing worship. I will go out.”
In addition, the Western B Church, which has been accused of 9 times by Busan City, has also held face-to-face worship since last August with more than 600 members attending. As a result, the Western side stopped operating the church at 0 o’clock on the 7th.
In accordance with the revised law on the 30th of last month, local governments have the right to order suspension of operations and closure of facilities if they do not comply with the quarantine guidelines. Accordingly, the two local governments are deepening their struggles over whether or not the two churches will be closed.
A Western official said, “I asked the church to temporarily restrict worship to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and to keep the residents safe, but I was told that they would conduct face-to-face worship.” According to the policy to issue an order to close the facility,” he explained.
Reporter Han Young-hye [email protected]
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