A Texas pastor who repeatedly questioned COVID-19 restrictions and continued to hold services during the pandemic lost both of his parents to coronavirus complications earlier this month.
Pastor Todd Dunn of Fort Worth's 2nd Mile Church was in the hospital on Dec. 7 when his 84-year-old father and 79-year-old mother passed within hours of each other. Both of the Dunns were parishioners at their son's church, and began to feel ill around Thanksgiving.
Dunn, whose social media posts have called the coronavirus restrictions a plot of "the Left" and a countermeasure against Christians in America, said in a recent interview that he was operating on bad information in the early days of the pandemic. When the pastor first urged "faith over fear" among his congregation, the coronavirus numbers in Texas were much lower, the threat more abstract.
“I do feel like the numbers were different in the spring and summer. And my opinion on it was based on the numbers that I saw back then,” Dunn said in an interview with the Dallas News. “I went seven months and didn’t know one person individually who had it. Now all of a sudden...For some reason there’s been a surge.”
Dunn still doesn't believe there's anything he could have done different to help his parents. He noted that the couple followed guidelines, limited their time in places like grocery stores and wore masks in church. Dunn told the paper that he doesn't discourage his churchgoers from wearing masks and that his sermons are available online. Still, Dunn said he's reeling at the loss of his parents.
"I’m human. Night times are the hardest. I’m a pastor, but I’m human. And I’m a son,” he said."I just know by my faith and the word of God that I’ll see my parents again. And that’s what’s getting me through this.”
