A US pastor who vowed to keep preaching “unless I’m in jail or the hospital” has died of COVID-19.
Bishop Gerald Glenn of Richmond, Virginia-based The New Deliverance Evangelistic Church last held in-person service attended by scores of congregants on March 22, ignoring social distancing concerns.
The church announced his death on Sunday. His wife, Mother Marcietia Glenn, 65, also tested positive for the virus.
Despite calls from Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to avoid mass gatherings and maintain social distancing, Glenn was quoted as saying in the March 22 service that he was not afraid to die.
“I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus,” CNN quoted him as saying.
Daughter, Mar-Gerie Crawley, announced in a video on April 4 that her parents had tested positive for COVID-19.
Church members were said to have fasted and prayed for the couple’s recovery.
The 66-year-old cleric died on Saturday, New York Times quoted a church elder, Bryan Nevers, as saying.
“The first thing I asked God is, ‘Why?’ ” Mr. Nevers said. “The bishop has touched our lives in so many ways.”
He added in his Easter sermon that the bishop had transitioned from “labour to reward”.
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