With the recent announcement of allowing places of worship to resume prayers starting June 10 after CMCO, temples and churches can conduct their daily session with SOP issues by the Ministry, but not all are keen with the decision.

Council of Churches of Malaysia, General Secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri issued a statement saying that the churches will remain closed even after June 10. The committee will review judiciously when the time comes and decide when to open.

“We seek to prioritise the safety of our people as our paramount spiritual duty. The current situation is still very precarious and volatile,” he said. Notably, one of the clusters that contracted Covid 19 early on was from a Church in East Malaysia leading to the death of the pastor.

Muslims are already attending Mosques and Surau’s under the new guideline released by the Religious Ministry with limited number of people allowed entry. Similar policies were in place for non-muslims and their places of worship, including permitting only 20-30 attendees per session depending on the size of the place. Weddings and large congregation is still not allowed.

Adopting prayer session format overseas, Sunday mass is now conducted online and looks to be successful, leaving the Reverend to remark worship services to continue to be offered via online streaming.