Megachurch Rev. John MacArthur died at the age of 86.
John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Los Angeles, passed away after being hospitalized with pneumonia, his church announced.
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LOS ANGELES – John MacArthur, an 86-year-old pastor at the Los Angeles megachurch, passed away after being hospitalized with pneumonia.
“Tonight, his faith became eyesight. He endured faithfully until his race ran,” Grace, the Ministry of Media, which he founded, posted to X on the evening of July 14th.
MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church, a working class community in Sun Valley since 1969, signed for pneumonia last week, Assistant Pastor Tom Patton told the congregation at a July 13 service.
“He might be admitted to the hospital and soon be in front of the Lord,” Patton said. “We place our dear pastor at the feet of our glorious Savior.
MacArthur, like several other preachers in the US, was hit by the public spotlight during the Covid-19 pandemic when he hosted a massive gathering despite urban policy that restricts the congregation’s minority to outside numbers.
MacArthur is survived by his wife Patricia, children, 15 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
USA Today has contacted Grace Community Church.
Pastor John MacArthur’s death draws a response
The announcement of MacArthur’s death sparked a pour from those that followed him.
“He was my spiritual father in 1979 as a teenager,” Randy Robertson posted on Facebook’s announcement of his death. “Under his descriptive sermons on Sunday and Wednesday, the foundations of my new faith have been firmly established.”
Adam Boyer said, “Praise the Lord for the exemplary life of faithfulness and service to Christ that he now sees face to face. I want to be like John MacArthur every day.”
Pastor MacArthur’s diagnosis comes days after televangelist Jimmy Swaggart passed away.
The news comes after the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart was buried in Louisiana.
Swaggart, a global televangelist in the 1980s before the adultery scandal reduced his impact, passed away at Baton Rouge Hospital on July 8th.
The 90-year-old Swaggart never regained consciousness following a heart attack at home on June 15th.
His spokesperson told USA Today he died surrounded by family and loved ones.
This story has been updated to include a video.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter at USA Today. Contact her at nalund @usatoday.com and follow her at x @nataliealund.
