Amid rising COVID-19 infection rates and fatalities, churchgoers in Samoa dedicated the morning of Good Friday to praise and worship with some attending church and the rest going online.

A number of churches in different parts of Apia scheduled early morning services to give their congregation members enough time to return home before the 2pm shutdown.

At the Catholic Church's Immaculate Conception Cathedral on Beach Road in town, its few congregation members in church on Friday morning were sparsely seated in the hall of worship as they complied with the State of Emergency (S.O.E.) Orders.  

Other churches opted for the convenience of technology with the Apia Protestant Church, All Saints Anglican Church - Apia, Worship Centre Christian Church Apia, Christian City Church - Apia Central and the Apia Harvest Centre Church among those who delivered their Good Friday messages through their church’s official Facebook pages. 

“As we celebrate Good Friday with our families, it is a day that we remember what the Lord has done for us,” said Reverend Amosa Pouoa of the Apia Harvest Centre Church. “We celebrate the day of total fulfilment where the lord displayed his love for us through his son Jesus Christ.

“A message for Good Friday: at the cross determines our destiny.

“God has prepared destiny even before the foundation of the earth and the creations of the heavens and the earth, he has already put together and formed for us a destiny that we can come into.”

Principal of the Pacific Theological College in Fiji, Reverend Prof. Dr. Upolu Lumā Vaai, in his Easter message sent to the Samoa Observer, emphasised that the upcoming Easter celebration “is not just another annual liturgical celebration”. 

“It is a transformative movement of hope that finds its cadence in the yearning for new life,” Reverend Prof. Dr. Upolu wrote. “A framework of resilience for victims of forsakenness to be utterly remembered. 

“It begins with an unreserved response to the question, do we remember the victims of forsakenness behind the façade of disregard, or do we only disregard them behind the façade of remembrance?”