ST. LOUIS--The Rev. Curtis McClain Sr., 78, died in a St. Louis County nursing home two months after he was robbed and beaten inside his church.

According to the Associated Press the congregation of Broadway Baptist Church is mourning the loss of its pastor.

McClain never regained consciousness after the beating on Jan. 11.

Thomas Gunter, 26, has been charged with robbery in the attack. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce said she will seek a first-degree murder charge as well when the case goes before a grand jury.

McClain came out of retirement last November to serve at Broadway. The city congregation had struggled without a pastor.

Born in Oklahoma City, McClain had served as pastor for half a century at churches in Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas and Alaska.

On the day of the attack, a homeless man and heavy drug user whom McClain had befriended approached the pastor and his wife in front of the church. It was Gunter. Detectives said McClain offered to fix the man a peanut butter sandwich in the church basement.

McClain was struck several times in the head with a glass coffee jar and knocked unconscious, according to police. His car was stolen.

McClain's wife, Dorothy, found her husband later in a pool of blood and called a relative to notify police.

McClain is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, six grandchildren, one sister and one brother.