Bishop Eddie Long has passed away

Bishop Eddie Long, a long standing senior pastor at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in the Atlanta area, has passed away. He was 63.

Statement on Bishop Eddie Long’s passing

His church released a statement that the pastor passed away early Sunday morning after a courageous fight against an aggressive form of cancer.

My heart is heavy, but God is in control. See you in the rapture Bishop Eddie Long. It was my honor to serve New Birth for 12 years.

— Byron Cage (@RealByronCage) January 15, 2017

BREAKING NEWS: I have confirmed the death of @BishopEddieLong. New Birth will be releasing a statement shortly. @tvonetv #NewsOneNow

— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) January 15, 2017

In August of 2016, Long, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, went viral after video showed that he’d lost an alarming amount of weight.

“People are asking, ‘Bishop, what happened to all of you?’” he said on a video posted to Facebook that has since been taken down. “Well, all of me has melted away.”

He told his congregation that he wanted to live until 100 (!) and said that he would not get there “stopping by Popeyes. That was my weakness. The biscuits with honey and chicken wings, spicy. … I’m on the medicine that God gave you to feed your immune system to build you up. You know what? If you really want to move through this world and have influence, you gotta be spiritual and you have to walk by his commandments and you have to be healthy.”

He said that he’d committed himself to a diet of “raw vegetables” and insisted that he was not ill or on any medications.