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A pastor who was shot in the face outside his church in late February returned to the pulpit on Easter Sunday.
Pastor Clemmie Livingston Jr. was shot outside of New Zionfield Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee on Feb. 25, following a carjacking that took place just minutes before his Sunday service was about to start.
He was transported to the hospital in critical condition. After undergoing surgery, he was upgraded to stable condition but remained in the ICU. His road to recovery has continued since, and on Sunday, the 71-year-old pastor felt good enough to share an Easter sermon.
"You know it's resurrection Sunday, but it also is a testimony Sunday for me,” said Livingston to abc24.
Congregants were ecstatic and shocked to see Livingston back at it just five weeks after his incident.
"I have stood in the pulpit of many Easters in the past," said Livingston to Fox13. "This is the first time I've been in the pulpit as a wounded soldier of God. I am wounded, but I am not dead."
Although Livingston has returned to preaching, his road to recovery is not over. According to abc24, Livingston still has a brace in his jaw. Once it has been removed, he will need to have a bone replacement and plastic surgery.
“Not one day has the call to preach left me,” he said to Fox13. “Every day, when I rise up to when I sleep or slumber, God is on my mind.”
Memphis Police say no arrests have been made, and the vehicle stolen from the church parking lot has yet to be recovered.