PEWAUKEE — Lakewood Baptist Church in Pewaukee was nearly full of people at Sunday morning’s Easter service.
However, one person was missing.
Pastor Jonah Scott was instead in the intensive care unit (ICU) at a local hospital after facing septic shock and other complications from an infection in his arm and chest area.
"Pastor Jonah had strep and the strep turned into a very aggressive bacterial infection attacking his body," Lead Pastor Dave Marriot said at Sunday morning's service.
"For a little while at least, it was unclear if Pastor Jonah would make it."
A fellow pastor and longtime friend was shocked to hear Scott was rushed to the hospital Friday morning.
"It's hard to believe. We had seen him so recently, Wednesday night. He was full speed ahead this past week," Pastor David Anderson.
Since Friday, Scott had several surgeries to remove significant infected tissue.
Marriot said that Scott is in the ICU in critical but stable condition.
Over the weekend, many in the church community came together around the Scott family in prayer.
"He has deep roots here. He and his wife serving for many years in that capacity," Anderson explained.
Scott is the church's Pastor of Youth, a title he's had for just over a year. He also coaches football for a local high school.
"He has a massive heart for young people and seeing them grow and develop. And football became one of those ways," Anderson said.
Along with being a father figure to those in the community, Scott is also a father of two, soon-to-be three. Scott's wife, Sarah, is pregnant and expected to go into labor any day.
"This is certainly a very stressful situation. We're encouraging our church family to be praying. Pray for them and ask for our Father to heal Jonah’s body," Anderson shared.
He said recent services without Scott have been challenging, but it's that faith that is bringing people together to support the Scott family.
"We're grateful for the doctors giving great medical attention and really leaning on God to provide a full recovery," Anderson added.
Along with prayer requests, the church has created aGoFundMe to help pay for medical expenses.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
