Ricky Texada, the senior pastor of a multisite megachurch in the Dallas, Texas area, died on Monday after struggling for several weeks with the virus.
Texada's church, Covenant Church posted on Facebook that "Our beloved Pastor fought to the very end. At 11:32 this morning, he entered eternity and met his great love, Jesus, face to face. We are honored and grateful for all of you who so faithfully and earnestly fought alongside him."
Covenant was considered a flagship congregation in the Churches in Covenant congregational network. It hosted several campuses around the Dallas area and hosted 7,000 attendees weekly.
According to posts made by Texada, the pastor was admitted on August 15, where he was experiencing pneumonia-Esque symptoms. He was later placed on a ventilator due to a lack of oxygen. His congregation actively mobilized its attendees to pray and fast in hopes of seeing the pastor recover. Unfortunately, complications lead to his death.
Caleb Texada made news locally when he ran a winning touchdown mere minutes after seeing his father in the ICU.
Texada served for thirty years at Covenant Church, having started his church's youth ministry career. He was later ordained as a minister in 1997, then became a campus pastor in 2006 when Covenant added its second site. Texada became the lead pastor of Covenant in October 2020.
He is the author of My Breaking Point, God's Turning Point, a recounting of his testimony and the loss of his first wife. Texada is survived by his wife and their two sons, Seth and Caleb.
