Ricky Texada, senior pastor of Covenant Church—a multisite megachurch in the Dallas, Texas, area with an attendance around 7,000—died on Monday after a weeks-long battle with COVID-19. He was 57 years old.
“Our beloved Pastor fought to the very end,” the church stated on Facebook. “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.”
A multi-ethnic, charismatic church, Covenant has four campuses in the Dallas area and serves as the flagship congregation of Churches in Covenant, a nationwide network of about 50 churches.
According to social posts, Texada was admitted to a local hospital during the week of August 15. The church reported he entered the hospital with COVID pneumonia and had been placed on a ventilator in the ICU, as his oxygen levels were “dangerously low.” It was not disclosed if Texada had been vaccinated against COVID-19.
He is survived by his wife, Cyd, and their two sons, Seth and Caleb. While many friends and family were still in shock by the news, some took to social media to pay tribute.
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His brother Keith Texada, who lives in the Dallas area with his family, tweeted: “Rest well my brother. I will miss our morning football talks (and) family gatherings. You had such an impact on this world. A part of me is gone.”
Covenant Church founding pastor Mike Hayes wrote: “Today, Heaven was enriched and we were left trusting God and grieving the passing of @RickyTexada… One of the greatest men I’ve known. @CovLive will move forward as one, but he will never be forgotten.”
Similarly, Brooke Ninowski, a 30-something lifelong member of the church, wrote: “My heart grieves so. One of the truest men I’ve known to model the Gospel and walk out the love of Jesus towards others. His simple yet anchored faith in Jesus is something that will echo in my life and I know so many others.”
Texada also impacted leaders far from his north Texas home. Jay Valai, on the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football coaching staff under Nick Saban, tweeted: “Rest In Peace to Pastor Ricky Texada. His Spiritual impact on us & leading my family through our toughest days will always be felt through our souls.”
Rest In Peace to Pastor Ricky Texada. His Spiritual impact on us & leading my family through our toughest days will always be felt through our souls.
1. Ecclesiastes 7:1
“A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.”
GOD Bless pic.twitter.com/PVELW7mfn8— Coach Valai (@JayValai) August 30, 2021
The coach added Ecclesiastes 7:1, which reads: “A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.”
“Not the end we would’ve chosen”
For the past two weeks, Covenant Church has mobilized its members to pray and fast for Texada’s healing and recovery.
The church’s social post announcing Texada’s passing referred to this prayer initiative: “This is not the end we would have chosen BUT our trust is in our God Most High. We do not mourn as those who have no hope!”
Reportedly, church staff have surrounded Cyd Texada and their family in prayer and support, notably including Hayes and his wife, Kathy, and their daughter Amie Dockery who leads the women’s ministry.
On social media, Ricky Texada often praised his two sons who are both student athletes. His eldest, Seth, competes on the track and field team at University of Texas-Arlington. Caleb Texada is team captain for Grapevine High School’s football team.
According to a social post from his mother Cyd, last week Caleb saw his father in the hospital. Following his brief visit, Caleb went back out to support his team and scored a highlight touchdown. An announcer later called him “the heart and soul” of the team.
Caleb @CalebTexada spent the whole first half of the game in ICU getting to see his Dad for the first time since August 10th. We were not allowed to see him. After he saw him, he came and knelt by my chair and said, “Mom, I want to go support my team”. And this is what happened! https://t.co/ahZa78sVpS
— Cyd Texada (@CydTexada) August 28, 2021
For over 30 years, Texada has served on-staff at the megachurch, starting in 1990 when he was youth minister for what was then known as Faith World. He was ordained as a minister in 1997. He and his wife, Cyd, were married in 1998. In 2006, he became campus pastor when Covenant Church in Carrollton expanded to a second location in nearby Colleyville.
Texada is the author of “My Breaking Point, God’s Turning Point,” published by Bethany House in 2014. The book recounts the loss of his first wife, Debra, in 1996, following a car accident, and his subsequent testimony.
He was installed as senior pastor of Covenant Church in October 2020. Hayes spoke briefly during that transition service. “We have been through a lot of things together,” he said. “You have been found faithful.”
Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his wife live in the Washington, D.C. area with their two children.
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28 Responses
As the parent of a physician and the mom-in-law of another, I am saddened to see so many Christians impugning doctors for allegedly withholding life-saving care in the interest of financial gain. I sincerely hope that the recommendations mentioned above are effective for the unvaccinated. Hospital beds, oxygen, hospitalists, and nursing staff are increasingly in short supply.
Sad to hear of any loss like this. But , as in so many other stories like this, I have to ask, was he vaccinated? Was his family? Was his church taking precautions? And if not, why not? Vaccination reduces your chance of hospitalization and death by well over 90%. A news story should include this kind of information if at all possible.
My semi-educated guess is that only the son who was allowed to see him in the hospital was vaccinated. That would be the protocol of my local hospital system.
My sentiments too. Here in Oz (Australia) we get politicians almost bragging when a young person succumbs to what might be CV-19, but we are never told about comorbidities. It came out in one case that the young man had a history of cardiac disease!
Why does this matter to you? Of course many people have co-morbidities! Many are not even known to themselves. That is why it is so crucial to be vaccinated against COVID–to avoid such devastation to families and communities. Yes, people with co-morbidities are much more vulnerable to dying of COVID. Help them out, by protecting them yourself with your mask and your vaccination!
Let’s not assume that the vaccine will prevent death. It does not. I know of a fully vaccinated young woman who died. Unfortunately she was obese and the vaccine was ineffective. Rev. Jesse Jackson’s wife is fully vaccinated and she is in ICU. Being vaccinated helps, but it isn’t a guarantee from death or hospitalization.
Sorry but NBC5 Chicago reported that Jaqueline Jackson was not vaccinated. I do hope she recovers.https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/jesse-jackson-in-rehab-facility-wife-moved-from-icu-as-covid-battle-continues/2601786/
Vaccinations are not a guarantee, no, but they come as close as any other solution does (other than 100% total lockdown). It’s always important to note that all the studies so far, from all around the world, continue to say that vaccines are highly effective against Covid-19 when it comes to preventing death, even with the Delta variant.
In other words, the *will prevent death* in a very large majority of cases. There’s no guarantee a seatbelt will prevent you from dying in a car crash, but you’re putting yourself at much greater risk of dying should you have an accident if you don’t put one on every time you get in your car.
Very well said, Jane. I agree 100%.
Jane P,
“Why does this matter to you?”
Why does it matter to you if someone wants all the facts? If you want to base your health decisions based on what the TV tells you, that is your right. If the facts support what we are being told by the media, then there would be full disclosure of all facts whenever a report is presented to us.
Instead of having an open dialog to explore all the facts we have people who try to gaslight/emotionally manipulate/shame in-order to shutdown discussion, to get what they want, or to “prove” their point. Not helpful in the least. We should never discourage the quest for knowledge, regardless if you believe it to be unimportant.
“Help them out, by protecting them yourself with your mask and your vaccination!”
The vaccine does NOT prevent catching or spreading the disease, so how does this help them out? Help them out by practicing BSI and Universal Precautions.
If you have conditions that make it more likely to get sick/die from C19, then it is up to you to take the appropriate precautions when interacting with the public. Otherwise you have decided that you are not responsible for your own health and expect others to be responsible for you.
Are we responsible for what you eat, drink, how you drive, how often you see a doctor, brush your teeth, if you smoke, do drugs, your hygiene practices, home security, or your relationship with God? Or is it up to the individual?
“Why does it matter to you if someone wants all the facts? If you want to base your health decisions based on what the TV tells you, that is your right. If the facts support what we are being told by the media, then there would be full disclosure of all facts whenever a report is presented to us.
Instead of having an open dialog to explore all the facts we have people who try to gaslight/emotionally manipulate/shame in-order to shutdown discussion, to get what they want, or to “prove” their point. Not helpful in the least. We should never discourage the quest for knowledge, regardless if you believe it to be unimportant.”
Those statements are so appropriate considering all the efforts from big tech and gov to censure truth for the purpose of manipulating the masses.
Here is a small town doc that has integrity and humility who is fighting the medical authorities hell bent on discrediting him for asking questions, warning others because he truly cares about his patients.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/UglxNcXlSNKq/
Too many people are unaware of the alternate reality the systems are forcing us to accept, while condemning us as terrorists if we don’t.
Much like the Afghanis running alongside the military jet smiling, laughing and waving as it is taxiing along. No hearing protection, no clothes flopping around from the jet engine propulsion, no one being sucked up in the engines. Total fakery….look at the windows, the 9/11 written backwards.
Militaries have utilized inflatable tanks and aircraft for the past century towards this end.
Of course it does. Every single study that looked into this issue published everywhere in the world confirms this.
What you are deliberately leaving out is “in every case” in order to mislead people into thinking vaccines are completely ineffective. Vaccines *are* effective in both preventing people from catching Covid and from spreading the disease, even if they don’t guarantee it.
Wearing a seatbelt doesn’t guarantee you will survive a serious car accident, but it does make it far more likely you will, so you’d be dumb not to wear one.
Here’s one study:
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/p0329-COVID-19-Vaccines.html
Also, a large British study of nursing homes from earlier this year also found that vaccinations were very effective in reducing the spread of the virus among residents.
The claim that vaccines do not prevent infections and spread is completely untrue.
Andrew – I’ll disagree with you here.
There are some things where we (as a society) do NOT have freedom of choice. You do not have the elective choice to drive the way you want, particularly as it related to impairment. We don’t have the discretion to ignore red traffic lights, at least without consequences. Similarly, we all share a medical system. When I see that system being (arguably unnecessarily) pushed to its limits because of those who choose to be unvaccinated, I’m going to be quite passionate in my stance. The way I see it, we’re all feeling the consequences of those exercising their right to chose. When an unvaccinated person takes up an ICU bed they are drawing resources away from others. Many elective surges and procedures have been delayed or cancelled to accommodate COVID patients. So, yes I see these decisions made individually have a community impact.
As far as the quest for knowledge goes, sure that’s a good thing. Where I ( and presumably many others here) grow skeptical is the academic rigor given to the pursuit of understanding. Our major medical institutions subject their findings to peer review. Most of the contrarian views I see are anchored on anecdotal observations or edge cases (ex. I have a friend that..), and not subject to peer review.
Literally hundreds of millions of people have taken the vaccine. If there was a dominant problem, it would be overwhelmingly evident.
Gilberto – Really? I mean really? As someone has died here, you’ll assert an unproven remedy would have prevented the situation and make conspiracy claims about “the medical establishment”? Is that helpful at all?
For “The Medical Establishment “ to be suppressing such remedies, all of our major research hospitals would have to be hoodwinked. Do you really think “The Medical Establishment” would ignore a solution that would alleviate staff worked past their limit and prevent the need for additional ICU beds? I’m shaking my head in disbelief.
There are lots of stats thrown around (.0005% this, 2% that, etc). Many of them are subject to interpretation. The one that stands out to me is that 98% of the patients in ICU beds are unvaccinated. While not 100% efficacy, the vaccine seems to be the best bet to improve the odds to stay out of the hospital.
Tony, thank you for being a voice of reason.
It is highly unfortunate that a few people use the comments section on this blog to promote snake oil “treatments” for a serious disease and to impugn the integrity of heroic medical professionals. I wish the moderators would intercept those comments, because they sure fall short of the “thoughtful and respectful” standard they claim to want.
At the hospital my wife works at, most of the doctors took a temporary pay cut of 40%. Most of the hospitals more lucrative services had to be put on hold for several months to accommodate for Covid patents.
On the flip side of Mr. Contreras’s comment, don’t you think maybe someone stands to profit by promoting these alternative treatments? Why should we give the benefit of the doubt to these AFD outliers promoting and selling these treatments?
I am a pastor of a sizable Church. I’ve been pastoring for 43 years. Last December I caught covid from a family member in my home. I went into one of the best hospitals in Michigan. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks. They put me on an experimental program that had been approved approved by the Trump Administration. My doctor said that I was 24 hours away from death. I would have been vaccinated but the vaccinations were not available last December. By God’s grace good doctors and the thousands of prayers of God’s people I walked out of the hospital after three weeks. I was home on a recuperating program for 5 weeks. I was back in the pulpit in February. My hospital just gave me a clear bill of health regarding my lungs. I have strongly encouraged all of our people to get vaccinated. A mask can help but cannot stop an infinitesimally small virus. I have to fight fire with fire. No one in my church who has been vaccinated has gone to the hospital or died. The same is true of our Christian School. I have strongly encouraged all of our staff to be vaccinated as well. I wish this pastor would have gotten vaccinated. It probably would have say this life. The virus is indiscriminate.
Correct.
Tony N,
“…. Many of them are subject to interpretation. The one that stands out to me is that 98% of the patients in ICU beds are unvaccinated.”
Do they have Covid? Or are they in the ICU with health issues not related to Covid (other than the fact they aren’t vaccinated)?
From Science.org
https://www.science.org/news/2021/08/grim-warning-israel-vaccination-blunts-does-not-defeat-delta
“As of 15 August, 514 Israelis were hospitalized with severe or critical COVID-19, a 31% increase from just 4 days earlier. Of the 514, 59% were fully vaccinated. Of the vaccinated, 87% were 60 or older.”
59% were fully vaccinated, is this up for interpretation?
Andrew, You are not citing U.S. data regarding COVID hospitalizations and vaccination status.
Latest data from this nation can be found at this link: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-coronavirus-vaccines-hospital-cases-rates-unvaccinated
“By late July, a total of about 26 adults per 100,000 vaccinated people had been hospitalized for COVID-19. That’s compared with about 431 hospitalized people for every 100,000 unvaccinated individuals — a rate roughly 17 times as high as for those who were vaccinated. The data come from 13 states, including California, Georgia and Utah.”
Josh S,
Correct, I am not citing the US data, nowhere in his comment did he list a specific country to his claim of 98% or list a study/report. I am citing data that contradicts his claim, with source and numbers, from Israel which has the most aggressive vaccination program in world at this moment. We should be watching them very closely for any abnormal results and not take what they are reporting lightly.
“Latest data from this nation can be found at this link: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-coronavirus-vaccines-hospital-cases-rates-unvaccinated”
From your source:
“The data come from 13 states, including California, Georgia and Utah.”
“The data were adjusted for age and come from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee and Utah.”
This is only representative of 13 states, not the whole of the USA and therefore cannot be used as the standard for the % in the country. It can be used as the standard in those 13 states and that disclaimer should be noted when using that data.
It is almost if they picked the states that best helped their article.
What is the overall percentage for all 50 states? What is the overall percentage in the other 37 states?
If we are going to learn anything we need to start seeing the whole picture, with all of the facts, not a selective snapshot to support the narrative.
Thank you for providing the link to the article, I had not seen it before.
Of course it can. A representative sample of over 30,000 cases from 13 states out of 50 is an excellent basis from which to extrapolate to the entire country. This is a very large study using a sample selected to be representative of the US demographics as a whole.
In any case, absent outright fraud (which is extremely unlikely given the size of the study) even if data scientists find something to quibble about, it’s not going to change the stark reading of the charts in the article beyond a slight adjustment of the error bars. Does it really matter if it’s 95% and not 98% in the ICUs?
Bottom line is that this study proves it’s overwhelmingly unvaccinated Americans who are filling hospitals with Covid-19 patients.
Andrew,
It appears these 13 are the states that are thoroughly reporting the relevant figures at this stage (hospitalizations by vaccination status).
Many US states have unfortunately gone dark on their COVID reporting just as the Delta variant has been surging: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2021-08-05/states-slow-covid-19-data-reporting-as-delta-variant-spreads
Josh S,
I am not questioning the validity of the 13 states numbers.
Those 13 states, they have a complete picture, but it cannot be used as the standard for the rest of the country.
You must ask why the other states are not releasing their information?
Isn’t this information known and is sent everyday to the CDC?
If not, then we are relying on statistical models that might be correct, or they might be theory which we are using to determine response to the situation.
Where do the 13 states rank as far total population, cases, poverty, deaths, vaccinated, health statistics, ICU beds available, etc … compared to the other 37?
The other states may have the same rates, they may not, but we were not presented with the numbers in the story. Again, Why?
I will not accept a study that only uses 13 out of 50 factors to determine the norm for the country.
If you pick the 13 worst states for crime/alcoholism/car accidents/deaths and say that is the national average, it is a misrepresentation of the facts and dishonest reporting.
Would you allow a vaccine that only takes into account 13 out of 50 variables, or is a treatment based on less than 30% of total information “good enough”?
It’s a bad ruling, but even if it wasn’t, it was one case, one patient, and the judge made the decision based on legal grounds (i.e. the rights of the patient) and it says absolutely nothing about the effectiveness of the ivermectin in the treatment of Covid-19. It was a legal judgement not a medical one.
If you required heart surgery, would you trust a judge or a surgeon to perform it?
Outside of confirmation bias, I don’t really understand why so many people are willing to trust one (flawed) study on ivermectin and then dismiss out of hand every single follow up study which found no effect, as well as every single one of dozens of studies confirming the overwhelming effectiveness of the Covid vaccines.
Mike,
No, it wasn’t just one off case – 4 cases made by the same legal group. A judge knows how to read meta analysis from 63 studies showing the effectiveness of ivermectin and can conclude the government is conspiring to kill people via hospitals.
“Smith is represented by New York attorney Ralph Lorigo, the chairman of New York’s Erie County Conservative Party, who has successfully filed one similar case against a Chicago area hospital and two more in Buffalo…
In an interview, Wagshul said the science behind Ivermectin’s use in COVID-19 patients is “irrefutable.” The CDC and FDA engaged in a “conspiracy,” he said, to block its use to protect the FDA’s emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines. He said the mainstream media and social media companies have been engaging in “censorship” on Ivermectin’s merits, and that the U.S. government’s refusal to acknowledge its benefits amounts to genocide.“
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021/08/30/judge-orders-cinci-hospital-to-treat-covid-19-patient-with-ivermectin-despite-cdc-warnings/
https://ivmmeta.com/
The health care system in America is driven by greed and corruption and must be exposed. People who work in the system (“good” people) who aren’t exposing it are complicit.
“Since the protocols (the wrong treatment) were in place, Physicians and other health care professionals were “protected” from criticism: “We are following the CDC proscribed treatment protocols, so, NO, you will not receive alternate therapies, and you will be ventilated”. Family members were excluded from being present with their loved ones, who were now intubated on a ventilator, sedated, and could not object themselves.
https://stateofthenation.co/?p=81956
Dollars to donuts, Pastor Texada was not vaccinated.
How sad.
So here we go again. More Covid misinformation. The deadly kind. Taking Ivermectin (a livestock drug used to treat worms) will kill humans. Do blogs have any ethical moral responsibility to not print this type of medical misinformation? Does this blog support it? Who knows. I can only hope few folks see this misinformation, take Ivermectin and die.