The Rev. Johnnie Green is senior pastor of the Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Manhattan, N.Y. | Facebook/Johnnie Green
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Biblical Mathematics for Discerning the COVID 19 Era: Spiritual Significance of the Year 2020: The Year 2020 Means Tribulations Times Two(10x2) and Grace Times Four(5x4)
Church loses 11 members to coronavirus in 30 days; ‘I have no words for the pain I’m feeling,’ says pastor
By Leonardo Blair, Christian Post Reporter
Current Page: Church & Ministries |
NEW YORK — A Harlem pastor who lost 13 members in 30 days, including 11 to the deadly new coronavirus, said he believes the faith of his congregation is now being tested as many of his congregants remain untested for the virus despite their church’s staggering death toll.
“The Scripture says whether we live, we live unto the Lord, whether we die we die unto the Lord … all of us are born with an expiration date on us and all of us are going to meet death at some point. It is simply unfathomable and unfortunate that so many people in our congregation [have died],” the Rev. Johnnie Green of Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem told The Christian Post Tuesday while noting he hasn’t been getting much sleep.
“I get calls all times of the night. Every time my phone rings I wonder if it’s an announcement of another person either testing positive or another person dying so you know, I’m averaging about four hours of sleep per night. That’s it. It’s on my mind,” Green said.
Since his members began dying, the Harlem preacher, who leads a 1,200-member congregation, said he has only been able to bury two of them because a local funeral home serving the church has also been hit hard by coronavirus infections.
“The owner of the funeral home and several of the employees contracted COVID-19. People were getting sick going in and out of the funeral home so they mandated the funeral home be quarantined for 14 days which has delayed some burials,” he said. “We had three burials that were supposed to take place this week. Two burials and one cremation that has now been put on hold until May.”
Just 48 hours earlier, Green revealed to his congregation in a Facebook Live broadcast that 11 members had, died including nine from the coronavirus. Shortly before his interview with CP on Tuesday morning, he got a call that a 13th member of his congregation had passed away. The two new deaths were coronavirus-related, said Green and it has been “devastating,” he said.
“It hit so severely and so suddenly, it was sort of like being blindsided. It’s something that you don’t expect. You read in the Bible, you read the stories of people like Job and how he lost 10 of his children at one time and the impact that it had on Job’s life. Well I didn’t lose 10 children but I’ve lost 13 parishioners and the impact has been devastating.
“It’s like, you remember when the World Trade Center was hit, how those buildings were leveled? The same kind of shock that I experienced watching those buildings fall is the same kind of shock I’m experiencing as I watch members of our church fall to COVID-19. So it has been a shocker.”
He insisted, however, that he is standing on his faith even as he grapples with the reality that he, as well as many of his congregants, remain untested for the virus.
“I don’t think that God has picked our church out to pick on us. I believe God has allowed this to happen in our church for our church to demonstrate before the world what real faith in God looks like … Now we are learning that God can get us through the crisis … so we are depending on His Word,” he said. “We are walking by faith and we are believing God and trusting God for the outcome and we believe that when this virus comes to an end or when it’s brought under control or when there is a vaccine found … that our testimony as a church family will only be that much greater.”
When asked how he thinks so many members of his church got infected with the coronavirus, he said many of his members are essential workers from a variety of professions.
“Well, we have a large congregation. A lot of our members are essential workers. A lot of our people work in schools systems, they work in transit, they work in the hospitals, they work in law enforcement, and so many of them from different walks of life were exposed,” he said.
“So before we had knowledge of the virus, when I say knowledge we knew that it was out there, but before we could prepare and before the shutdowns were being ordered we were coming to church. And if you bring 600 or 700 people in the church at one time and five people are infected with the virus, it’s going to spread like wildfire and that’s what happened,” he said.
Green said his last in-person service was on March 15, five days before New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the state to shut down on March 20 as the virus spread rapidly. At 12 a.m. that Friday, there were 7,100 cases of coronavirus statewide with more than 4,400 in New York City. By 6 p.m., New York City’s infection figure had surged to nearly 5,700.
As of Tuesday morning, there have been more than 253,400 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in New York, including more than 141,235 in New York City. More than 14,828 people with COVID-19 have died in the state, not including the deaths of people with probable cases.
Green said the infections at his church first became apparent after three members of his church’s choir contracted the virus.
“Three people in the choir contracted it and two died. One of our deaconess contracted it. She sat on the third row from the pulpit so there I was standing in the middle — three people infected in the choir, two or three people were infected in the congregation right in front of me,” he said.
The pastor, who says he suffers from chronic bronchitis, explained that he would also eventually get sick but was not given a coronavirus test when he visited his doctor despite having all the symptoms of coronavirus. He was diagnosed with a severe sinus infection and upper respiratory issues.
“All the symptoms bore the similarities to COVID-19. The high fever, the chills, the coughing, the shortness of breath, all the symptoms were there. I believe at that time they were just being a little lax and I believe that’s why a test was not administered to me,” Green said.
“You can call it what you want. I think it was just a sloppy job that I took the antibiotics and I self-quarantined and as a result I’m doing better,” he said, still coughing profusely.
Green said even though the virus began moving through his congregation quickly, as soon as he was aware that people were getting sick he shut his church down.
“It spread so rapidly because we are a large congregation and so many people were asymptomatic. They had it and didn’t know it and they were in church. As soon as we discovered that people were getting sick we immediately, even before the government of New York and the mayor of New York closed down the churches, we shut down,” he said.
“This week marks five weeks since we’ve been shut down but we have been stabilized by our faith in God. I believe personally as a Christian that faith is not authentic until it’s tested and my faith has been tested over the last 30+ days. It’s been tested but it hasn’t been shaken.
“My belief in God has only increased because I believe in Romans 8:28 where Paul advocates the doctrine of total good … We believe that God can bring something good out of something that appears to us to be so bad and this COVID-19 virus it is bad. I have labeled it the 'invisible assassin.' However, God is with us,” he said.
When asked if he had reached out to the city’s department of health for assistance in getting all the members of his church tested, he said they were directing symptomatic members to testing sites. He also noted that Harlem, which has a significant black and brown population, did not have a coronavirus testing site for a long time. A new testing site opened in Harlem on Monday.
He further noted that many of his members who aren’t displaying any symptoms of the virus are now too afraid to come out of their homes and get tested.
“It would be quite difficult to try to get all of our members to show up for a test at this point because people who don’t have it don’t want to come out of their homes. So they are just staying in and staying safe so it would be almost impossible to get everybody tested,” he said.
On Sunday, he continued to try inspiring hope among his flock in an online sermon, warning them not to be distracted by death.
“Like Elisha’s servant, we may have all become distracted to the point where we are paralyzed by our fears but I drop by this virtual worship experience today to say to all of you, don’t be distracted by the dangers. Yes, COVID-19 is real. Yes, people are testing positive and dying every day but the good news is more people are surviving COVID-19 than those who are succumbing to it,” he said.
“Now, I am in no way making light of the death of any of the persons who perished in the face of this deadly disease. My heart, I want you to know, bleeds church for our members who were fatally wounded and taken away from us as a result of the coronavirus,” he said. “I have no words for the pain I am feeling as a pastor … But what I will tell you today church is that there is still hope for deliverance.”
‘My God Is the Ultimate Healer’: Georgia Pastor ‘So Close to Death’ Survives Coronavirus, Credits Faith
A pastor from the Atlanta, Georgia area has survived a lengthy bout with coronavirus and credits his faith in God for the recovery.
Pastor Robert Burt, who heads up Danielsville Baptist Church, is thankful to be alive after fighting the deadly virus for several weeks. His wife, Joy, says things didn’t look so promising at times. “He was so close to death, just unbelievably close to death,” she said. “But I refused to believe that because I know my God is the ultimate healer and that he was going to heal Robert.”
Pastor Burt doesn’t have health insurance, so a GoFundMe was started to help with the medical bills. It has exceeded the $2,000 goal. The family thanked everyone who prayed and donated. “God bless you all and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
No one at his church ended up getting the virus, which was a major relief to Burt.
On March 19th, Burt was rushed to the hospital. He credits Jesus with his recovery. “I do know that without Jesus Christ healing and touching my body and giving me what I needed that I wouldn’t have survived,” Burt said, according to Main Street News .
Confused and disoriented, the pastor spent weeks in the hospital before fully realizing where he was and what was happening. Incredibly, doctors told him he was in such poor condition that he only had a slim 1% chance of surviving.
Obviously, as Georgia finds itself in the center of national news after the governor moved towards re-opening parts of the state, the pastor is among those who are taking the virus seriously.
“We need to look at it as a very serious virus,” Burt said. “I pray every day right now that people who have this thing don’t lose their life.”
Bishop Robert Earl Smith Sr., pastor Kevelin Jones of Bountiful Love Ministries and elder Freddie Brown of Flint, Michigan, died of complications from coronavirus in March 2020. | WJRT via Screengrab
Churches mourn as bishop, pastor and elder all die of coronavirus
By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor
Current Page: Church & Ministries |
Michigan’s Genesee County is in mourning as a bishop, a pastor and an elder are among the four people who have died of the new coronavirus.Bishop Robert Earl Smith Sr., pastor Kevelin Jones of Bountiful Love Ministries, and elder Freddie Brown, all from Flint, have died over the past few days.
“Pastor Kevelin Jones and Bishop Robert Smith were both fathers to me. I had the chance to serve at Bountiful Love Church of God in Christ under pastor Kevelin Jones for years,” ABC12 quoted pastor Chris Martin of Cathedral of Faith Ministries as saying.
Martin remembered Brown as a servant and a family man and said the elder and Jones had underlying health conditions.
Pastor Jones’ wife, Iola Jones, said she never wanted to “know the earth without him. but I’m going to make it because I have all these kids,” according to NBC25.
Michigan’s Genesee County is in mourning as a bishop, a pastor and an elder are among the four people who have died of the new coronavirus.
Bishop Robert Earl Smith Sr., pastor Kevelin Jones of Bountiful Love Ministries, and elder Freddie Brown, all from Flint, have died over the past few days.
“Pastor Kevelin Jones and Bishop Robert Smith were both fathers to me. I had the chance to serve at Bountiful Love Church of God in Christ under pastor Kevelin Jones for years,” ABC12 quoted pastor Chris Martin of Cathedral of Faith Ministries as saying.
Martin remembered Brown as a servant and a family man and said the elder and Jones had underlying health conditions.
Pastor Jones’ wife, Iola Jones, said she never wanted to “know the earth without him. but I’m going to make it because I have all these kids,” according to NBC25.
“I would describe him as a hero to many ... a father to many,” added Kevelin B. Jones Jr. “I haven’t seen him since the Sunday he was sitting in the back with his mask on.”
“I don’t think I have fully accepted it because I haven’t seen my father,” Jones’ oldest daughter, Sharee Hubbard, was quoted as saying.
“He taught all of us a lot about family and faith and a lot about having joy,” Martin recalled. “He was a man of hospitality. He was the guy that would give you anything that he had. He would often go to Genesee Valley with bull horns and preach repentance or the Bible or go door to door and preach.”
“He loved this church and gave everything he was and is, to ensure that the doors of this church stayed open for this community, for the family, and so individuals would have a place to come and worship God freely,” MLive quoted Jones’s 45-year-old son, Nic South, as saying.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton wrote on Facebook that Jones introduced him to the Michigan Democratic Convention when he was nominated as Attorney General in 2010.
It’s not known how the three contracted the COVID-19 disease.
The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Michigan rose from 3,657 on Friday to 4,658 as of Saturday, and the deaths from 92 on Friday to 111 on Saturday.
Across the United States on Sunday, there were 135,000 confirmed cases with 2,612 recoveries and 2,381 deaths, according to John Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center. The majority of the deaths from COVID-19 have occurred in New York, at 678.
Around the world, as of Sunday afternoon, there were 710,918 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus with 33,597 deaths and 148,995 people recovered.
A face mask with the text "You, the one who can do anything, help us, please" is tied to the fence of La Macarena church on April 9, 2020, in Seville, Spain, adorned with flowers left by the faithful after Easter processions were cancelled during a national lockdown to prevent the spread of the COVID-16 disease. | CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP via Getty Images
Current Page: U.S. |
Multiple churches across the country will be celebrating Easter in grief come Sunday as the new coronavirus claimed the lives of at least seven more longtime pastors in the last two weeks. All of the pastors were older adults and some suffered from underlying conditions which left them vulnerable to the virus.
The late, Monsignor Richard J. Guastella, pastor of St. Clare’s R.C. Church in Great Kills on Staten Island, NY. | Facebook
Monsignor Richard J. Guastella, pastor of St. Clare’s R.C. Church in Great Kills on Staten Island, New York, died early Thursday morning after “bravely battling the COVID-19 which led to his hospitalization last week,” according to a statement on the parish's website. He was 73.“It is with the utmost sadness that we share with you that our beloved pastor, Msgr. Richard J. Guastella, affectionately known as Fr. Richard, has returned to the Lord. Fr. Richard passed away in the early hours of Holy Thursday, April 9, 2020, after bravely battling the COVID-19 which led to his hospitalization last week,” the church said.
“It is fitting that the Lord chose to call Father home, after nearly 48 years of priesthood, on the day that we celebrate the Supper of the Lord, the Institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood. He is indeed a priest forever. We can all agree that this world was made a better place because God had blessed it with the gift that was Fr. Richard for the last 73 years. Now he belongs to his Maker,” the church added.
Guastella’s death comes exactly a week after the passing of his brother, Joseph, the church also noted.
The Rev. H. Gene Sykes, who led Friendship Baptist Church in Bayonne, New Jersey, for more than a quarter century, died of complications from the new coronavirus, Mayor Jimmy Davis announced Tuesday. He was 78.
“Rev. H. Gene Sykes, the pastor of Friendship Baptist Church, was one of Bayonne’s most prominent clergymen. Sadly, he has passed away after being infected by the coronavirus. He was well-known in the community for his spiritual and civic accomplishments. Rev. Sykes will be remembered for moving his congregation to a new location, where he renovated and expanded a former synagogue,” Davis said.
“Rev. Sykes gave many years of service as a volunteer Commissioner on the board of the Bayonne Housing Authority. He was an active member of the Bayonne Interfaith Clergy and other community organizations. On behalf of the city of Bayonne, I would like to offer our condolences to his family, friends, and congregation,” the mayor noted.
Sykes is survived by his wife, Fannie Steen Sykes; his children, John Sykes of Jersey City, Lynne Sykes-Horace of Plainfield and Tonya Sykes of Charlotte, North Carolina, NJ.com said.
“It is with great sadness that we share that the Rev. Dr. Andrea Bowman died yesterday from complications from the Covid-19 virus. She served faithfully for many years in our diocese. May she rest in peace and rise in glory,” the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane announced on Facebook Monday.
In an interview with Yakima Herald, Bowman’s longtime friend and former colleague, Dr. Linda Beath, remembered the pastor fondly.
“Andrea had a wicked sense of humor and a lot of joy in life,” Beath said. “I love to cook and bake. We were in a restaurant one time and I was talking about how she was never really enthused about really good food.
“She said, ‘food is food, but good food is better.’ That became one of our old mantras when things got tough. It was like ‘food is food, but good food is better’ would lighten the moment.”
The Rev. Lawrence Wilkes, 80, stepped down as interim pastor at the Crystal Cathedral in 2012 when the Schuller family left amid a tumultuous bankruptcy. The Orange County Register reported that he died on March 31 after contracting the coronavirus.
“The Rev. Dr. Lawrence Wilkes passed away this morning from the coronavirus. A good man that I knew from the Crystal Cathedral. The virus hasn't seemed real because of not knowing anyone that was sick. Now it's very real. NOW IT'S PERSONAL,” Greg Iannolo wrote in a post on Facebook.
Wilkes lived in Anaheim and is survived by his wife, daughter and son-in-law, and a granddaughter, the OC Register said. He was also among 17 COVID-19 coronavirus deaths reported by the Orange County Health Care Agency as of Wednesday.
The Rev. Eddie Lee Hunter, 68, died from COVID-19. He served as pastor of Miracle Missionary Baptist Church and as the president of the Northeast District Baptist Convention. Hunter became ill around March 21.
He died Sunday at Russell Medical Center in Alexander City. A private service was held Thursday, with plans for a larger celebration of life to be held at a later date, AL.com reported.
“Rev. Hunter was a very humble individual. He wasn't too flashy, but you always somehow felt his spirit,’’ Valarie Oliver, a relative and church member told the publication. “He was what I would call a silent leader. When he did speak it was powerful and meaningful. He loved his community and his church congregation.”
She added that his passing has left a void in his community that will be hard to fill.
“His death has definitely left a void in this community that will not be easy to fill. Many individuals were shocked to hear about his passing,’’ Oliver said. “Rev. Hunter knew individuals from many walks of life. He was very active from a clergy and community standpoint.”
Pastor and former St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Detective Carl Smith died from COVID-19 Thursday, the St. Louis Police Officers Association said. The post said his wife Geraldine is also in the hospital with COVID-19. Smith was a pastor at New Beginning Missionary Baptist Church. He was also a lead mediator at St. Louis Gun Violence De-Escalation Centers.
"He fought a good fight and he finished the race!" a post from his family on Facebook said. "We rejoice in knowing that he lived a God led life and we know God makes no mistakes!"
Heather Taylor, president of the Ethical Society of Police, called Smith a mentor in a statement on Facebook and said his death was a great loss to the city.
"Lost a friend, mentor, a man of God, and someone who has always been there for me and many others to COVID-19 today," Taylor said in a Facebook post. "I am so glad I was one of those he prayed for and called a friend. I am praying for his wife, children, and extended family. His passing is a loss to our city. So many of us borrowed strength from him, placing our burdens on his shoulders."
Pastor Bernard Moss, 85, died on March 29 at the Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Georgia, the WRBL reported. He was the first Muscogee County victim of the coronavirus.
The pastor and his wife, Claudett, led New Birth New Beginning Church in South Columbus.
His family told the publication that on March 14 Moss played nine holes at Oxbow Meadows Golf Course. Three days later, after he began feeling unwell, he went to the doctor the following Tuesday.
“He didn’t really get sick until after then,” his widow Claudett said. “He was sick, but not sick, sick.”
With a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, Moss was admitted to Piedmont Columbus Regional on the day he visited but was released on March 21. He went back into the hospital the next day and on March 26, the pastor was diagnosed with the coronavirus. It was the last day his widow would talk with him.
“He had a deep voice. He said love you. We always said I was his mama and he was my daddy. I said, ‘Now, you do what they tell you to. You hear what your mama say.’ He said, ‘OK. Love you,’” she said.
Moss’ family said they don’t know how he contracted the virus but revealed that he had underlying health conditions including heart disease. His funeral service was done on Facebook and he was buried at the Main Post Cemetery on Fort Benning.
