A Virginia evangelical pastor has died of COVID-19 just weeks after continuing to hold congregations, saying he will continue to do so "unless I’m in jail or the hospital", the New York Post has reported.
On March 22, Bishop Gerald O. Glenn held his last known in-person service, during which he reportedly asked his congregation at the Richmond’s New Deliverance Evangelistic Church to stand in order to prove how many people had attended - despite warnings against gatherings of more than 10 people.
During the service, 66-year-old Glenn said: "I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus. You can quote me on that." He added that "people are healed" in his church.
The sermon was posted on YouTube but later removed. However, a video on the website of the television station WTVR shows that a few dozen people attended.
Per the New York Times, on March 17, Governor Ralph S. Northam told Virginians to avoid nonessential gatherings of more than 10 people, in accordance with federal guidelines on social distancing. This was five days before Bishop Glenn's service.
On April 5, WTVR reported that Bishop Glenn and his wife Mother Marcietia Glenn had tested positive for COVID-19, as confirmed by officials from the New Deliverance Evangelistic Church.
Tragically, over the Easter weekend, it was announced on the New Deliverance Evangelistic Church's Facebook page that Bishop Glenn had died on Saturday, April 11, at 9:00pm.
You can see the announcement in the Facebook video below:Senator Tim Kaine also tweeted out his condolences for Pastor Glenn on Sunday, saying: "My heart sinks as I learn this morning that Bishop Gerald Glenn, pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church, died yesterday from COVID-19. He was a friend and pillar of Richmond faith community. May all do as much for so many.”
Earlier this month, Glenn's daughter, Mar-Gerie Crawley, spoke out about her parents' falling ill with the novel coronavirus, explaining that her father originally dismissed the symptoms because he has a condition that often leads to fevers and infections. She said: "He has diverticulitis, so it's not uncommon for him to get fevers or you know virus or sinus infection."
However, following her parents falling ill with the disease, Crawley pleaded with people to take the pandemic seriously: "It becomes very real to you. I just beg people to understand the severity and the seriousness of this, because people are saying it's not just about us, it's about everyone around us."
Despite the heartbreaking situation, Crawley says the support the family is receiving from the public is making a difficult time easier: "It's not an easy situation, but the people that are standing with us makes it a little bit more easy to get through it."
Our thoughts are with Glenn's family and his followers at this heartbreaking time.
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