Grace Community Church Pastor John MacArthur, 85, is currently hospitalized due to a "slower than expected" recovery from three surgeries he underwent last year.
GCC Elder Tom Patton stated, "His recovery has been slower than expected, with occasional setbacks affecting his heart, lungs, and kidneys," noting that doctors have not yet determined a single root cause for these diverse health troubles.
“John has been hospitalized for the past two weeks undergoing tests and treatments. So please pray for him and for the physicians that are handling the case,” he added.
GCC elder Phil Johnson, executive director of Grace to You, addressed rumors on Facebook last week, stating that MacArthur was not receiving palliative care.
He wrote, “John MacArthur has NEVER wanted public announcements to be made about his health. It's one of his quirks, and it is a years-old policy of his. The scarcity of public announcements about his health is not something unique to this current illness.”
MacArthur has served as the pastor-teacher of GCC in Sun Valley since 1969, shortly after graduating from Biola University's Talbot Theological Seminary, and has reportedly preached more than 3,000 sermons since then.
He was hospitalized on New Year’s Day 2023 after delivering the first sermon of the year, which prevented him from participating in the second service.
Following the 2023 emergency, GCC provided an update stating that MacArthur was “doing well” and needed rest after a busy holiday week. However, he continued to experience health issues and was absent from the pulpit from July last year until November, when he preached at a Thanksgiving service.
"I'm still here, and thankful to the Lord for that," MacArthur said at the November service. “God has purposes that we would've never been able to fulfill if we weren't put into some kind of stress.”
He expressed gratitude for seeing “the good and gracious and kind and providential hand of God in every vicissitude in my life, every hard experience, every challenge — whatever that challenge may be.”
