It is a distressing fact that many people have suffered from the novel coronavirus, and not even church leaders are exempted from it. One associate pastor from a California megachurch died due to complications exacerbated by COVID-19 infection, a report says.
On Monday, the sad news was relayed to the church associates that pastor Bob Bryant succumbed to the virus's complications. Bryant was an associate pastor at Water of Life Community Church in Fontana, California, the Christian Post reported.
Members mourned the significant loss of one of their leaders. In a message posted on its Facebook account, Water of Life Community Church thanked its members for the overflowing support and prayers they have done in the last few days of Pastor Bryant's life.
The statement on their Facebook account said,
"Today, Pastor Bob is where he has always loved to be, in the presence of Jesus. He loved God and he loved people with great passion. We celebrate his life and how he lived and influenced us to love like Jesus loved!"
The Water of Life Community Church also asked members to continue praying for the bereaved family of Pastor Bob.
The community believes that God is still the Almighty that can suppress any diseases despite the world's depressing situation.
Dr. Dan Carroll, Water of Life Community Church founder and Senior Pastor, told the Fontana Herald News in March, "Here at Water of Life, we believe that God is bigger than the Coronavirus. We also believe in taking the right precautions to ensure the safety and health of everyone who comes to our campuses."
To them, it is no denying that serving the community with precautions is the new trend. In their attempt to continue serving their people, they implemented strict measures to ensure their congregation members' safety and health.
Outdoor and indoor services are conducted with extreme social distancing measures to prevent cross-contamination and germs spread.
In October, Carroll said of the church's efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus:
"We'll also still have some seating outside for those of you who are not comfortable coming inside. We'll have the big screen up,"
"I want to encourage you, if you don't have any underlying issues or anything preventing you from coming back, encourage you to come back and join us."
Hoping for healing
Lori Bryant, Bob's wife, revealed that both of them were tested positive for COVID-19, but Bob had it worse than she did. She revealed this via a Facebook post that was reposted by the church.
In post, Lori said she still hoped that Bob would recover from the illness, despite his serious condition. That hope, though, eventually faded.
Later she said, "We were hoping he was turning for the good but things went very bad very quickly today. He has bilateral aggressive COVID pneumonia, suffered a silent heart attack and is having some kidney issues,"
Nevertheless, Bob's critical state did not deter her from believing in God's miraculous ways. She said that she is still hoping for his recovery.
Pastor Bob eventually passed away and went on to be with the Lord. The church will hold a Memorial Service on Dec. 7 to celebrate his life and ministry.
