Pastor dies a week after he’s hospitalized with COVID, California megachurch says

A megachurch pastor in Fontana died this week after being hospitalized with COVID-19.

Bob Bryant, a pastor at the Water of Life Community Church, died on Monday, Pastor Dan Carroll said in a Facebook post.

“It is with heavy hearts that we share Pastor Bob Bryant passed earlier today from this life and found himself fully in the presence of Jesus. So many of you have prayed and contended for his well-being and miraculous healing over the last week and half,” Carroll wrote.

Bryant was leading outdoor services at the church, NBC Los Angeles reported.

His wife Lori said that Bryant’s health quickly deteriorated.

“Bob got every symptom. He just started to get more and more symptoms,” she said, according to the station. “Within three hours they were running me back to the back and they were putting Bob on a ventilator.”

The megachurch opened for indoor services last month, according to a Facebook post.

San Bernardino County, where the church is located, allows churches to open only for outdoor services. The county is designated in the “purple” tier, meaning many non-essential indoor businesses are closed and there are more than seven daily new cases per 100,000 people.

Carroll first hired Bryant at the church when he was a truck driver 20 years ago, KABC reported.

“It’s very painful. The whole COVID experience is very painful,” Carroll said, according to the station.

Bryant’s memorial service at the church will be held Monday, according to a Facebook post.