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Bishop Barnett Thoroughgood, photographed in 2001. (Virginian-Pilot file pho
what he said
“Some of us think that we’re going to live forever,” Bishop Barnett K. Thoroughgood said Sunday. “Because you’re not sick, because you have good health, and you think you have plenty of time. But you don’t know where death is standing. Just because you came to church today doesn’t mean death is not out there waiting for you.”
VIRGINIA BEACH
In his final sermon, Bishop Barnett K. Thoroughgood opened with the story of his birth nearly 63 years ago and ended by beseeching his congregation to seek God while they can because "tomorrow is not promised to you."
Minutes later, Thoroughgood was dead.
The circumstances of his sudden and unexpected passing sent chills through the area's religious community and prompted hundreds of people to send condolences to New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ.
A public memorial service will be held at noon Friday at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. City leaders agreed to donate the space at no cost.
Mekia Thoroughgood, the bishop's adult daughter, wept Tuesday as she watched for the first time a video recording of her father's final minutes. "He always said when he died, he wanted to go away preaching the word of God," she said.
Church leaders declined to release the recording but allowed a reporter to view it. It shows a noticeably shaken Thoroughgood stepping away from the lectern after his sermon as ushers gathered to collect donations for Haiti disaster relief.
The 6-foot-4 preacher sat down on stage, leaned back, and slowly slumped into his seat. Teary-eyed church members embraced and prayed together as church leaders, and later paramedics, worked to revive him.
Earlier accounts and online messages described a more panicked scene. Not so, family members said.
"His last word was 'Amen,' " Mekia Thoroughgood said between sobs. "He sat down in his chair, and he passed away. It was graceful. That's who he was."
There were no signs that the preacher's health was failing prior to his death, church leaders said. During the last of three services Sunday morning, Thoroughgood warned his congregation that they were at war with the devil and called on them to prepare for the fight.
He recalled his own birth at his family's home in Seatack: "And the devil was hot that day, 'cause he saw 63 years ago that today that little old boy was going to give him a fit."
Thoroughgood, the son of a preacher, founded his Pentecostal church 42 years ago with two members and a small church house that lacked running water. The congregation grew from those humble beginnings to one of the largest in the city, and Thoroughgood blossomed into one of the most respected leaders in the city's black community.
He was known for "preaching truth," church members said, even when that made people uncomfortable.
"I know I'm getting obsolete," Thoroughgood said, minutes before his death. "There are not many preachers left that talk like I talk."
The old preacher with the booming voice concluded his final sermon by recounting the story of a woman who was struck by a car and killed on the side of Interstate 64, hours after sharing her testimony at a church service.
"Some of us think that we're going to live forever," Thoroughgood said. "Because you're not sick, because you have good health, and you think you have plenty of time. But you don't know where death is standing. Just because you came to church today doesn't mean death is not out there waiting for you....
"Get right with God!" the preacher barked, as members shouted out "Amen" and cheered for their pastor to keep going.
"Today is here, but tomorrow is not promised to you."
Mike Hixenbaugh, 757-222-5117, [email protected]
. Literally at the conclusion of services one Sunday afternoon. She was praising one minute and gave up the ghost the next. She didn't appear to be in any pain. Doctor's said it was a stroke. I've never forgotten it. First time I understood death was final from a human standpoint
