St. Louis pastor works outside for prayer requests

ST. LOUIS -- Pastor Henry Price of St. Louis is ready to take your prayer request, and you don't have to step foot inside a church to do it.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Price, 79, stands on the corner outside his church in a crime-ridden neighborhood of north St. Louis each morning from 8 to 10 a.m. He uses a hand-held microphone and a tambourine to reach out to passers-by.

A box on a small stand holds prayer requests dropped in by people from all walks of life. Gospel music plays from his Zion Temple of the Church of God in Christ's open door.

The street-corner outreach has been going on for two years since Price decided he needed to do something to help address the neighborhood's crime problem. He's preached at the church for more than 30 years.

"It's praying time," Price said on a recent day as people walked, biked and drove by. "Come let us pray."

As those passing by acknowledge his presence, Price replies into the microphone, "God bless you. Bless you, son. We are praying for you."

Price's church is struggling. The parishioner count is 13. The building needs a new roof and other major work.

Still, he persists. Young people, especially, need the power of prayer, Price said.

"There are young people 13 years old out there on dope, killing and doing some of everything," he said. "Our land needs to be healed."

Police investigated a fatal shooting blocks away in April after a man was found with a gunshot wound to the head on a parking lot.

"There are quite a bit of robberies and killings here," said Price, a retired tailor and foreman at ITT Blackburn. "You got dope addicts and robbers sticking up each other. If ever there was a time for prayer, it is now."