The Queensland Government has announced it will make the state’s ‘Check In Qld’ app mandatory across numerous sectors, including places of worship.
From July 9, church leaders will be required to deny entry to any member who does not want their personal information sent to the state government.
Under the government’s mandate, attendees will be required to install the tracking app on their smartphones to enable the government to collect check-in information. Those who do not, or cannot, download the app, must give their information to church leaders who are “required to collect the information” and send it to the government on the individual’s behalf.
Caldron Pool has learned that several church leaders throughout the state are refusing to impose such restrictions as a condition of entry into worship.
“We are not prepared to refuse entry to our congregation on a matter of conscience,” one Queensland pastor said. “We have no command from God to force our people to sign in to a state system upon entry to corporate worship, and we have no desire as elders to police such a system.
“We are not government lackeys,” he said. “Granted, we are keeping a record on our church database, which can be requested by the government should there be an outbreak. But this system seems downright beastly.”
The pastor went on to say, “I recently read a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which said: ‘Will the Confessing Church ever learn that majority decision in matters of conscience kills the spirit?’ There are a lot of ‘matters of conscience’ that currently need to be protected, and the best place for resistance is the church.”
Another pastor said, “In Matthew 16:19, Jesus handed the keys of the kingdom to church elders, not to Caesar. It is therefore God, not the state, that determines who may enter into corporate worship.
“We would be doing a disservice to Christ and his church by imposing arbitrary state regulations as a condition of entry into worship,” he added.
The ‘Check In Qld’ app will become mandatory in a number of other areas including, stadiums, theme parks, cinemas, shopping centres, gyms, hospitals, and higher education institutions.