Soon-to-be married couples like Sheila and her husband Amethyst Dicky have no other choice but to postpone their wedding ceremony plans for now following the worldwide Covid-19 situation and the MCO enforced by the government.
KUCHING: Churches in Sarawak have stopped holding weddings since the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) in the fight against the Covid-19.
Church leaders interviewed today said they have completely stopped all activities unless there was a need such as funeral services.
“We (Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching) have stopped all services in the church and asked couples to postpone their church marriage plans to another time after the MCO.
“We also have MCO guidelines to comply during events such as funerals,” said Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuching, Simon Poh.
As for the Anglican churches in the state, Right Reverend Datuk Danald Jute, who is Bishop of the Anglican Church in Sarawak and Brunei, said they had also stopped all activities.
Things such as marriage counselling are done via phone, while funeral services were requested to only be done at the cemetery.
“We have no choice but wait until the MCO is lifted. We don’t hold any activity for now, during this time,” he said.
Pastor Bina Agung, who is Borneo Evangelical Mission president, said his church has issued a circular saying that all mass gatherings by his church had been stopped in line with the MCO.
Meanwhile, some couples who were interviewed have lamented that the Covid-19 pandemic has hampered their nuptial plans.
One such couple is Sheila Noria Killon and Amethyst Dicky, who had to postpone their wedding next month.
“My family and my future husband’s family have made many bookings and reservations which could not be cancelled or refunded. We were however lucky that most of our bookings and reservations of things such as rental of venue and other things related to the event can be postponed,” said Sheila.
Sheila, nevertheless, wants to hold her wedding ceremony in an atmosphere where there is no fear of Covid-19 hence her family agrees with postponing the ceremony.
She said there was nothing which she and her family could do now apart from wait until the situation “go back to normal again” while hoping to see the end of the Covid-19 pandemic to be over soon.
She said the wedding that she or any couple would want is one that can accommodate as many invitees as possible.