Reverend Father Chinenye Oluoma, a Catholic priest in the Abuja Archdiocese has decried the high fee gospel artists charge to perform.
In a video circulating on social media, the Reverend Father expressed his concern about the increasing costliness of religious worship, saying Christians have made it expensive to worship God.
Father Oluoma criticized gospel musicians who demand substantial payments to perform in places of worship.
In the video, he cited acclaimed singer Mercy Chinwo as an example, reiterating the alleged claim that she charges N10 million as a performance fee for appearances in churches.
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“We have made religious worship expensive. If I have to bring Mercy Chinwo to come here and sing, how much will I pay her? How much does a gospel artiste of Mercy Chinwo’s status charge to come to an event or in a Church, it has reached N10m now.
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“This is the tragedy that we have turned Christianity into, that an artiste will come to a church and lead in ten minutes praise and worship for N10m, N5m. So if that particular artiste doesn’t sing Jesus you love me too much, that means God didn’t love you too much?
And some people were asking should they be paid? Why didn’t you pay them? If you must bring them you must pay them because what you are bringing them for is entertainment. We have turned worship into entertainment.
“We have copied the world. In those days, those who composed songs we are still using for worshipping nobody even knows them,” he said.