A group of young Christians have risen to the occasion by developing an application that enables worshippers to book seats in services they want to attend at their respective places of worship. Typical of the self-check-in facilities we were used to with commercial airlines, the app will allow worshippers to choose the seat they feel comfortable within the place of worship. According to the developers, the app uses shortcode or USSD, which makes it accessible to both smartphone users as well as those who possess ordinary phones. This platform should be embraced by all places of worship and fortunately, there are no limitations to the number of them that can be accommodated on it. The main advantage is that the platform will safeguard worshippers from exposure to coronavirus while having to manually register for service, which is one of the Standard Operating Procedures for places of worship. It will also help congregants save time. The app, which is currently available for free, is not the only innovation that has been introduced to maintain social distance in places of worship. Others are using already available platforms like Google Sheets to register their congregants for services ahead of time, to avoid last-minute on-venue physical registration that will put their lives and of those around them in danger. Like the experts both locally and internationally have said, Covid-19 is not going anywhere any time soon, and it is only spreading far and wide. The faster we adjust to the new normal, the better to keep our loved ones safe. Let everyone embrace these innovations to protect ourselves. To our youth, the pandemic should provide a silver lining for them to unleash their potential by coming up with more innovative ways to keep our communities safe, and this should not be limited to places of worship.
