Virginia pastor (Bishop Gerald Glenn) who defiantly held church service dies of coronavirus COVID-19
Four family members of Virginia bishop who died of coronavirus have tested positive
By By Peter Sblendorio, April 16, 2020
The family of late Virginia Bishop Gerald O. Glenn has not had the chance to properly grieve his death from coronavirus because other relatives have been battling the illness, his daughter said.
Mar-Gerie Crawley said during an interview with CNN on Wednesday that she and three other family members have tested positive for COVID-19. Her husband, sister and mother also tested positive.
In recent days, they’ve had to focus on taking care of the sick members of the family rather than being able to mourn Glenn, an evangelical leader whose death was announced Sunday.
Glenn, who founded New Deliverance Evangelistic Church near Richmond, had garnered attention for holding services while many were practicing social distancing amid the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisement against group gatherings.
“I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus,” Glenn said during a March 22 service.
His daughter told CNN on Wednesday that the criticism of her father’s decision has been unfair, and that he kept his church open to give people a message of hope.
“When he decided to have services, he was very clear in posting signs and having hand sanitizer, and wearing gloves and not congregating with people after service, during service,” Crawley told the news outlet. “People were asked to sit six feet apart. Family members sat together. That’s it. After service, there was no talking and hanging around. Everyone left.”
Source: New York Daily News, Video by NowThis on YouTube
