“It’s very painful. The whole COVID experience is painful,” said the senior pastor of Water of Life Community Church, who opted to open for indoor services.
Mary Papenfuss
The Huffington Post
The associate pastor of a California megachurch that defied a state order and instead opened for indoor services has died.
Bob Bryant of the Water of Life Community Church in Fontana in Southern California died Monday, just weeks after the evangelical church moved services inside, defying a California regulation that allows only outdoor services.
Bryant, 58, who was married and had four children, will be honored at a memorial service Monday inside the church, according to its website, again in defiance of health regulations.
Bryant became sick while on vacation last month and did not return to the church after he began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, a church spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times.
But he continued working “right up until” he “wasn’t feeling well,” then became “incredibly sick,” KABC-TV in Los Angles reported. Bryant, described as a “larger-than-life” pastor who has been with the church for 20 years, worked on providing financial assistance to church members in need.
Bryant suffered “aggressive pneumonia” and a heart attack, and was placed on a ventilator, according to a Facebook post by his wife, Lori Snider Bryant. Read more >>