Bishop Gerald Otis Glenn vowed to keep his Chesterfield County church open during the coronavirus pandemic “unless I am in jail or in the hospital.”

Just three weeks later, the respected leader of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church joined the list of people who died from the coronavirus.

On Easter Sunday, church Elder Bryan Nevers announced “with an exceedingly sorrowful and heavy heart” that the prelate who founded the church “had transitioned from labor to reward.”

The announcement was made to members who tuned in remotely to the closed church’s live video feed.

Bishop Glenn died around 9 p.m. Saturday, April 11, 2020, in a local hospital. He was 66. His wife and the first lady of the church, Marcietia S. Glenn, 65, remains hospitalized with the virus. Her condition has not been released, but the Glenns’ daughter, Mar-Gerie Crawley, posted on Facebook that her mother is recovering.

Bishop Glenn’s death from COVID-19 drew attention from media across the nation and overseas. Much of the coverage focused on his defiance, along with other church leaders, of the social distancing recommendations by state, federal and world health officials prior to Gov. Ralph S. Northam’s March 23 executive order banning gatherings of more than 10 people.

In his final, in-person church service on Sunday, March 22, Bishop Glenn declared, “I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus. You can quote me on that.”

He repeated, “You can quote me on that” as more than 180 church members in attendance clapped in approval.

He told the congregation and those listening from home that “people are healed” in the sanctuary. He also pronounced himself “essential” in explaining why he was violating safety protocols by allowing “way more than 10 people” into the service.

“I am a preacher — I talk to God,” he said.

By the following week, he was showing signs of illness, his family said, and was back and forth to hospital emergency rooms. He was not initially tested for COVID-19, his family said.

According to media reports, Ms. Crawley said Bishop Glenn was not alarmed initially because he had diverticulitis, an intestinal inflammation that often caused fevers and infections.

He repeatedly was sent home from the emergency room until his condition led to him finally to be admitted, tested and confirmed as sick from the coronavirus, along with Mrs. Glenn, about a week before his death.

Tributes poured in, including from two former Virginia governors and current U.S. senators who have known him for years.

“Bishop Glenn was my great friend for more than 20 years,” Sen. Mark R. Warner wrote in a statement. “He was an extraordinary spiritual and community leader, and we will miss him very much.”

In 2002, Sen. Warner surprised Bishop Glenn by inviting him to deliver the invocation at his gubernatorial inauguration. During his tenure as governor, Sen. Warner also tapped Bishop Glenn to lead a task force focusing on initiatives to reduce crime in minority communities.

“He was a friend and a pillar of Richmond’s faith community,” Sen. Tim Kaine stated on social media. “May all do as much for so many.”

Bishop Glenn was elevated to a bishop in November 2006 when he was inducted into the College of Bishops of the Church of God in Christ with which his church is affiliated.

A former police officer in Portsmouth, Bishop Glenn was a native of Kingsville, Texas, and came to Virginia around 1957 after his mother married and moved to Petersburg. A barrel-chested man with a powerful speaking voice who openly wore his faith and was outspoken on various issues, he credited his late mother, Joan P. Andrews, with encouraging him to become a minister.

“We loved to play church when I was growing up,” Bishop Glenn said in a Free Press interview published in January 2015. “I would always end up as the preacher, and I would preach to one of my cousins and the other cousin would sing. My mother always encouraged me and told me I would make a good preacher.”

A U.S. Army veteran, he launched his church in his living room in 1995 with his wife and 20 charter members. The church quickly grew and held services at George Wythe High School for several years until the congregation secured land at 1701 Turner Road, where the sanctuary was built and opened in 1998.

At one point, the church reported 2,000 members, but recently reported about 750 members. So far, there has been no announcement of a successor.

Bishop Glenn had a wide-ranging career outside the church, including serving nearly two years as director of the state Depart- ment of Juvenile Justice under former Gov. Jim Gilmore. He quit abruptly Dec. 1, 1999, amid conflicts with the board overseeing the department that operates state prison centers for youths.

Bishop Glenn said at the time that he decided to quit because his hard work was not appreciated by the Gilmore administration.

Four months later, he drew attention when he led a boycott of county malls after the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors declared April as Confederate History and Heritage Month. Joined by others, the protest appeared to reduce the number of shoppers and also brought the county unwelcome attention when white supremacist leader David Duke came to promote shopping.

The protest ended after the county offered conciliatory words and virtually ensured Bishop Glenn that the resolution fiasco would not be repeated.

Ironically, Bishop Glenn said that just as he and Chesterfield officials reached their agreement, he was forced to resign as a volunteer chaplain for the Chesterfield County Police Depart- ment. He had been the first and only African-American pastor among the dozen working with police to comfort relatives of accident and crime victims.

Bishop Glenn said he was told he had become too controversial because of the protest. He said he resigned as chaplain when he was told he would have to take a 90-day leave of absence and undergo a review of his fitness by a chaplain board.

Final arrangements to celebrate Bishop Glenn’s life were pending at the Free Press’ deadline.