The lead pastor of Fulfilling-Word Foundation Church, Rivers State, Essa Ogorry, is dead.
The 55-year-old cleric died on Tuesday exactly a year after his wife, Tonyemieba, passed on and left a 17-year-old child.
Pastor Ogorry went viral recently when he refused to join an intending couple over their lateness to the wedding service.
A source which spoke with Punch said, “My pastor has gone on to be with the Lord. He had health issues even before the wedding saga. We took him to the hospital and he had to come from Lagos to attend the wedding.”
“He tried to preach the Sunday after the wedding but he was not in his normal strength. He went back to the hospital and he gave up yesterday (Tuesday) morning.”
“He celebrated his 55th birthday on February 9, last week. He lost his wife last year, on February 16, 2020, the same date.”
The source while speaking on the cancelled wedding said the groom and the bride signed a document that the pastor has the right not to join them together as husband and wife if they come late on the wedding day.
It added that it viral cancelled wedding was not the first of such, adding that the late preacher usually did join the intending couple later on after entreaties.
The source noted that the February 6 incident was different as the groom rained insults on the pastor.
The source said, “He came that day and waited for five minutes. Before the day, he did interviews with the intending couple and he told them not to allow him to look bad in the face of the congregation because the kind of thing had happened before when an intending couple come so late and all the members will be waiting for them.”
“For that reason, there is a document that every to-be couple used to sign that pastor has the right to cancel their wedding if they are late. The to-be couple in question signed it. They came more than five minutes late, they came over 15 minutes late and the pastor had already gone into his office.”
“The bride came to the pastor and pleaded. Pastor considered going on with the wedding but the groom and his family rained insults on him. Then, an uproar ensued and pastor left the church.”
The source said the church leaders and the family of the Pastor Ogorry will meet later to decide on the funeral arrangements.
