Christians in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis on Sunday celebrated Palm Sunday in their various churches amidst strict observance of the COVID-19 safety protocols, contrary to last year when the coronavirus outbreak led to the closure of churches.

However the usual street procession with brass band music, waving of palm fronds and singing Hosanna to re-enact the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem was absent as the ban on public gathering is still in force.

Though many of the churches the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited had their normal Palm Sunday services, the usual dance and fanfare that greeted the celebration were missing as means to control the spread of the COVID-19.

Some worshippers told the GNA that they were aware of the COVID-19 pandemic and the threats it posed to the economy, hence would abide by all the protocols with the seriousness they deserve.

At the Pentecost International Worship Centre in Takoradi, Pastor Daniel Okyei Boakye, Resident Minister, spoke on the theme: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."

“When a righteous person dies, he does not die of the thing that physically killed him/her but it is the Lord who had called him/her to His eternal rest,” he said.

Pastor Boakye quoted the Scriptures and explained that those who died in the Lord were blessed because they escaped the calamities that awaited the living.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away," he said.

Pastor Boakye expressed the hope that all Christians would abide by the dictates of God’s word in order not to miss the opportunity to Heaven where they would be resting from their labour.