Pastor John Gray in critical care with life-threatening condition, wife prays for a ‘miracle’
Pastor John Gray and First Lady Aventer Gray (Credit: Relentless Church)
By Kendra Wilkinson // News // EEW Magazine Online
Aventer Gray put out a desperate online appeal to the public to pray for a “miracle” on behalf of her husband, Pastor John Gray, who is currently in their local hospital’s critical care unit.
According to the Relentless Church first lady, the 49-year-old preacher is suffering from a Saddle Pulmonary Embolism – a life-threatening condition – and additional blood clots in his lungs.
In an Instagram post featuring the pair holding hands, Lady Gray told followers in the caption that Pastor Gray had been “feeling a little different over the past couple weeks” and “went to the ER on Thursday evening and was immediately admitted to CCU.”
Once there, doctors discovered the Saddle PE which medical experts at Healthline say occurs when a large blood clot gets stuck in the main pulmonary artery—most often when a blood clot breaks loose and travels to your lungs from other parts of the body.
Medical News Today says, “The condition occurs when a large blood clot becomes lodged at the intersection where the main pulmonary artery divides and branches off into the left and right lungs.”
When explaining the grave condition of her spouse, Lady Gray wrote, “The Saddle PE is in a position that could potentially end his life if it shifts at all. The clot burden is severe and only God is holding it in place.”
Pastor Gray will need “two types of surgery due to the pressure now on the heart within the next 24 hours” his wife said, adding, “To place this in perspective, the doctor said that people have come into the hospital dead with this exact scenario he walked in with. The Doctor said God has to keep him through the night and he cannot move, not even get up to walk to a bathroom.”
“First Lady Aventer Gray is believing God for a miracle for her husband, Pastor John Gray, who is in critical care with a life-threatening medical issue.”
The relentless faith of Lady Gray is on full display despite the negative prognosis. “God isn’t done!” she said. “Clots have to bow to my God!”
Reiterating her prayer plea, she stressed, “I need as many people who believe in the miracle healing power Of Jesus Christ to join me and my family and our church as we cry out on behalf of John W. Gray III.”
The leaders who preside over two Relentless Church locations – one in Greenville, SC, and the other in Powder Springs, GA, located 25 miles northwest of Atlanta – are receiving overwhelming support and prayers from family, friends, and ministry colleagues.
Lady Gray expressed her thanks to those “that showed up” at the hospital as well as individuals that “reached out in multiple ways after just the word of mouth.”
Pastor Gray is a former associate pastor at Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch, Lakewood. He was installed as pastor of South Carolina’s Redemption Church – now Relentless – in 2018. In 2021, the ministry expanded, securing another location near Atlanta, becoming “one church in two locations.”
