A Texas pastor had a frightening medical incident in the middle of his Sunday sermon broadcast on live TV, prompting his parishioners to rush the stage to help.
Someone in the crowd captured the moment on camera; Bishop TD Jakes, 67, of Dallas’s Potter's House church could be seen delivering his morning message from a chair on stage. At one point, he produces a cloth and dabs the sweat from his brow.
"I still love to preach," he says in the video. "I ain't tired of preaching."
Jakes continued with his message, sharing a few more words before he began praying. But something stops him. He lowered his mic away from his face, and began to tremble. It became apparent fairly quickly that something is wrong, and church members rushed the stage to assist the pastor.
A voice came over the speaker and asked the attendees to pray as Jakes received medical treatment. The livestream ended shortly after.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, the church has not confirmed if Jakes was hospitalized and has not provided details about the nature of his medical episode.
The church did post a statement on Instagram explaining that Jakes was "Stable and under the care of medical professionals."
"During today's service, Bishop TD Jakes experienced a slight health incident and received immediate medical attention following his powerful hour-long message," the statement said. "Bishop Jakes is stable and under the care of medical professionals. The entire Potter's House family is grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from the community."
Jakes' daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, shared an update alongside her husband, Toure, in an Instagram post late on Sunday.
“We didn’t want to lay down without giving you all an update about how things are going with Bishop,” she says in the video, standing alongside her husband. ”We want to thank you all first of all for your prayers, your support, your concern, it has truly been a blessing."
Toure said that he and his wife "felt those prayers" and confirmed that the Bishop is "doing well."
“Obviously today could have been a tragic day, but it wasn’t by the mercy of God, by the grace of God, Bishop is doing well," he said. "He is recovering well. He’s under medical care. He’s strong. We are trying to get him to sit down. He’s the strong Bishop that we know, but we really can’t thank you enough for your prayers."
He encouraged parishioners to "keep praying, keep encouraging, it means a lot to our family."
