Televangelist and megachurch founder Frederick K.C. Price has been in the hospital for over a month now. Price has been literally fighting for his life after COVID-19 damaged his heart, lungs, and kidneys.
“Satan is trying everything he can end his life,” Fred Price Jr. told the congregation of Crenshaw Christian Center (CCC) in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 7th.
Price Jr., who took over the Head Pastor of CCC position in 2009, gave additional details of the harrowing ordeal Price (known to the church as Apostle Price) has endured. Price Jr. said his father and mother had both been diagnosed with COVID-19 and that Price was admitted to the hospital on January 5th due to complications with the virus.
Fred Price and COVID
“COVID did a number on his body,” Price Jr. explained. The elder minister suffered from pneumonia, among other things. Things looked so grim that on January 27th, Price Jr. said the doctors told his family they had better come say goodbye to the patriarch. Price Jr. said he laid hands on his father, prayed, and spoke the word of God over him.
It wasn’t until he went to the hospital for the visit that Price Jr. found out his father’s heart had actually stopped three times before that. Price Jr. explained his father was gone, in other words, dead, for 5-10 minutes at a time. Based on 2 Corinthians 5:8, which says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, Price Jr. said he believes his father was with God during those moments. In fact, using 2 Peter 3:8, which says a day with God is “like a thousand years,” Price Jr. said it was “as if Dad was with the Lord four to eight years.” Admitting the verse he referenced wasn’t intended to be used as an exact formula, Price Jr. nevertheless included this hypothesis.
The younger Price then went on to explain how the congregation could pray for his father and emphasized he doesn’t “think Dad’s course is finished yet.” The church and its pastors are known for adhering to a word of faith theology, which emphasizes believing God will do what you ask him to if you have enough faith. Price Jr. clarified these beliefs in light of asking the congregation to pray for Price’s miraculous healing. He explained that the gifts of the Spirit only manifest when God wills it, however the believer’s job is to have faith “in a miracle-working God and to pull those gifts.” In other words, we are to ask, like children asking for something like a cookie, knowing God is capable of giving us what we are asking for, but not knowing whether or not he will decide to give it to us.
Price Jr. encouraged the congregation to “covet earnestly” the gift of working miracles on behalf of his father. He said there was already reason to rejoice as daily reports from the doctors show “numbers are improving.”
On Tuesday, February 9th, Price Jr. shared the family received an “outstanding report” on Monday. Price Jr. credited the fact that “more intercessors dug in” when they shared the news on Sunday that Price wasn’t well. Following the prayer request to the broader congregation, Price Jr. said he noticed a shift. He encouraged followers to “believe God for the complete restoration and the full manifestation of healing for his kidneys, heart, and lungs.”
The senior Price founded CCC in 1973 with his wife, Betty. Previously, Price had held a pastoral position at a Christian and Missionary Alliance church but “grew dissatisfied” with the church’s approach to spiritual development, so he searched for a “more fruitful Christian experience.” The search led Price to Kenneth E. Hagin’s ministry and subsequently exposed him to word of faith theology.
Price then founded CCC with about 300 people and saw the church’s numbers grow steadily over the years. Currently, CCC has a membership of over 20,000 people. Price started a broadcast ministry in 1978. Radio and television broadcasting have been major contributors to CCC’s growth.
