Two weeks after causing a furore on social media by asking for tithes and offerings from worshippers during the lockdown in South Africa, Prophet Shepherd Bushiri has launched a subscription-only online church service.
Worshippers will have to pay over three thousand Malawian Kwacha per month to subscribe to an app called Major 1 Connect.
According to a statement from the church, Bushiri launched the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) online church service on Sunday and over 6 million people joined it worldwide.
The church said in a statement on Monday that the move to start the online church was an intelligent and timely response to the suspension of physical church meetings due to the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Bushiri, his church members and followers across the world become part of the church services through subscribing to Major 1 Connect, an application which helps them join the video conferencing hosted by him in his South African studios.
“Through the video conferencing, those connected are able to interact with the Prophet, just like a normal physical church gathering. They are able to talk with the Prophet and most important of it all, to pray with him as their number one prayer partner.”
The church claims that during the launch on Sunday, about 7 000 connected directly through Major 1 Connect and over 6 million joined through connecting with live broadcasts on Prophet Channel TV, You Tube and Facebook.
Bushiri said more than 25 000 people were expected to connect directly through Major 1 Connect in the coming service.
“The ECG Church is happy with the innovation as it provides a platform of praise and worship that is safe, one that keeps people in their homes, in the wake of Covid-19.”
