Police stop church service on Easter Sunday

AN early-morning Easter Sunday service yesterday at the St James, Tableland Presbyterian Church was disrupted by police when a policeman stopped the preacher from his delivering his sermon.

The policeman walked into the packed hall of early-morning worshippers and ordered preacher Rawle Ramlogan to hold his hand on delivering his sermon. Ramlogan was requested instead to tell his congregation that the police wanted their vehicles removed from the roadway. Ramlogan, the lay presiding preacher with the Presbyterian Church, expressed disgust with the police for conducting an exercise in front the church during prayer service.

Ramlogan said that it was around 7:30 am, when he mounted the pulpit and was about to deliver his sermon when a uniformed police officer walked in through a side door. The policeman spoke to a member of the congregation who walked up to the altar and whispered something to Ramlogan. Ramlogan told Newsday that he announced to the congregation the policeman's request was that they remove their cars from the side of the roadway. Newsday learned that the church members did not take the request too lightly, mumuring among themselves in an expression of disgust at the police orders.

This was greeted with a response from the policeman, standing by the doorway, that he was only following orders from the sergeant. The church is located some 300 feet from the Tableland Police Station. "Well, we explain to the police that the service was just for an hour.if they could wait. But it did not matter to him. He said he was following instructions," Ramlogan told Newsday. Some members of the congregation moved their vehicles but most of them did not.

Parliamentary representative for Nariva and lay preacher, Harry Partap as well as former Caroni East MP and Pastor, Raymond Pallackdharrysingh were in attendance. Contacted yesterday, Partap said: "I think it was rather insensitive for the police to conduct a road block in front the church while service was going on. Even if they wanted to do so, they could have placed 'No Parking' signs. I think it amounts to harassment of the congregation." Ramlogan's sermon, however, got underway half an hour later on the topic: "A New Beginning."