Churches should abide
Oct 24, 2002
KAMPALA MAYOR Sebaana Kizito has cautioned churches against defying city regulations meant to curb noise pollution.
KAMPALA MAYOR Sebaana Kizito has cautioned churches against defying city regulations meant to curb noise pollution.
Pastor Simeon Kayiwa, the head of the National Fellowship of Born Again Churches, is reported to have said that his group would continue with night prayers that have been a bone of contention between churches, city authorities and local residents in various parts of Kampala.
The crux of the matter is not so much that people pray at night (many feel called to do so) or the mode of prayer, but that this nocturnal activity does upset many in the respective neighbourhoods. The issue, therefore, is noise control.
The so-called born-again churches (an anomaly itself since, biblically, ‘born-again’ refers to the individual and not the institutional church) have argued that in many cases theirs were the first buildings to be located in the neighbourhoods. The others - residences, shops - that followed should respect their pioneer status. This is a spurious argument. While they may have been the first, the arrival of others is evidence that the city is growing, and therefore city regulations must begin to apply in these hitherto outlying neighbourhoods.
The noise problem is underscored by the very nature of the physical structures. Many are erected out of very porous material like tarpaulin, wood, reed and iron sheets, which do not absorb sound within. This is what the churches and, indeed, any other structures that host nocturnal activity like cinemas and discotheques, must address. Indeed some, like the Kampala Pentecostal Church in the city centre, have soundproof interiors where believers can worship as loudly as they please. Before they meet these standards, the other churches should abide by the regulations. Scripture, after all, makes it incumbent upon them as Christians to submit themselves to the governing authorities, and to the golden rule to love their neighbours as they love themselves.
Pastor Simeon Kayiwa, the head of the National Fellowship of Born Again Churches, is reported to have said that his group would continue with night prayers that have been a bone of contention between churches, city authorities and local residents in various parts of Kampala.
The crux of the matter is not so much that people pray at night (many feel called to do so) or the mode of prayer, but that this nocturnal activity does upset many in the respective neighbourhoods. The issue, therefore, is noise control.
The so-called born-again churches (an anomaly itself since, biblically, ‘born-again’ refers to the individual and not the institutional church) have argued that in many cases theirs were the first buildings to be located in the neighbourhoods. The others - residences, shops - that followed should respect their pioneer status. This is a spurious argument. While they may have been the first, the arrival of others is evidence that the city is growing, and therefore city regulations must begin to apply in these hitherto outlying neighbourhoods.
The noise problem is underscored by the very nature of the physical structures. Many are erected out of very porous material like tarpaulin, wood, reed and iron sheets, which do not absorb sound within. This is what the churches and, indeed, any other structures that host nocturnal activity like cinemas and discotheques, must address. Indeed some, like the Kampala Pentecostal Church in the city centre, have soundproof interiors where believers can worship as loudly as they please. Before they meet these standards, the other churches should abide by the regulations. Scripture, after all, makes it incumbent upon them as Christians to submit themselves to the governing authorities, and to the golden rule to love their neighbours as they love themselves.