A prominent Virginia bishop died after contracting the coronavirus, members of his church announced Sunday.
Bishop Gerald Glenn, the founder and pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield, Virginia, died Saturday night, church elder Bryan Nevers said in a video post on the church’s Facebook page.
“During this time of intense grief, we ask that you pray continually for the FIRST FAMILY of NDEC,” a Facebook post from the church read. “While they are mourning the heartbreaking earthly absence of their family patriarch & spiritual father, they also have family members who are struggling to survive this dreaded pandemic.”
Glenn and his wife, Marcietia Glenn, tested positive for the virus, their daughter Mar-Gerie Crawley said in a video shared on Facebook. Crawley said in an update Friday that Gerald Glenn was very sick but had improved slightly after being put on a ventilator.
Bishop Gerald Glenn, the founder and pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield, Virginia, died Saturday night.
“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,” Crawley said.
She told Richmond station WTVR that Glenn had diverticulitis and that it was not uncommon for him to get sick or have a fever. Glenn’s health worsened despite trips to urgent care and the emergency room, she added.
Despite authorities urging people to practice social distancing, Glenn held an in-person service on March 22.
“I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus,” Glenn told his congregation in a sermon that day, according to video of the service shared by WTVR. He vowed to keep preaching “unless I’m in jail or the hospital,” the New York Times reported.
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The next day, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered nonessential businesses closed and banned all gatherings of more than 10 people. Seven days later on March 30, Northam issued a stay-at-home order in Virginia.
Sen. Tim Kaine offered his condolences, calling Bishop Glenn a friend and pillar of the Richmond faith community in a tweet Sunday.
Tim Kaine
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@timkaine
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.
Sad Sad . God help those who helps themselves he forget that rule .
Good! Dat fi reach dem fool deh
those “religious zealots” and “conservative hillbillies” will never learn!
Bombo a 2 a Dem dead pastor Landon Spradin him dead last month to rass..him white and from Virginia also
Landon Spradin say Dem wanted to
smear Trump. He called it hysteris
Disobedience don’t pay and God does not support disobedience.
Obey the law of the land – That IS THE WORD OF GOD!!!!
This was no different from the idiot that was going around and licking toilet seats. God is busy right now walking the land and He has no time for stupidity.
Even if you don’t believe in god under normal circumstances you’d still want to believe that something like the virus which is affecting every man woman and child was an act of god. so why do some clergies believe they and their followers would be exempt?
This isn’t an act of God, we don’t know God.