Televangelist Frederick K.C. Price Remembered at LA Church

Church members and admirers lined up Thursday and Friday at Crenshaw Christian Center to pay their respects to the late Dr. Frederick K.C. Price.

The televangelist passed away on Feb. 12 from complications of COVID-19. This week, his casket was placed inside the South Los Angeles megachurch he founded, giving the faithful a chance to say goodbye.

“I first saw him on TV and after that I decided to come here, and I haven’t been disappointed,” said longtime church member Ostell Griggs.

Socially distanced and masked, guests had their temperatures taken before entering the sanctuary known as the FaithDome. Once inside, they walked past Price’s casket, said prayers and took pictures in the 10,000 seat church.

“I’ve been a faithful follower of his. He’s a teacher and he’s done a lot for the community,” said church member Janet Newton.

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Price, 89, founded Crenshaw Christian Center in 1973. As its membership grew from hundreds to thousands, the FaithDome opened in 1989, according to published reports.

The retired pastor and his wife of 67 years, Dr. Betty Price, both tested positive for coronavirus shortly after Christmas. Their eldest daughter Angela Evans, who is president and CEO of the church, said she’s angry her father died from an illness that could have been prevented.

“He contracted the disease from a household employee and that is something that makes me very angry because I worked very hard, our family did, to keep him safe and my mother safe all year long,” Evans told us Thursday at the church.

Price was considered an apostle among his followers. He wrote more than 50 books, counseled his followers, and opened a school on church property.

Among those attending Thursday’s viewing, were a man from Ghana and a woman from El Salvador who met and married at the church 18 years ago.

“We came for counseling before marrying. I remember asking a question, ‘Where are we going marry, who is going to marry us?’ [Price] said, ‘I’m going to marry you guys,'” Celia Oppong recalled as her eyes filled with tears.

In 1978, Price started a television broadcast which would later be called the “Ever Increasing Faith Ministries (EIFM),” according to the church’s website. The pastor began broadcasting in five major television markets, and later expanded to all 50 states and several foreign countries. In 2001, he established an East Coast branch of the church known as Crenshaw Christian Center East.

Evans said her father could have built his West Coast megachurch in the suburbs. Instead he wanted it to be located in South L.A., close to his mostly-Black and Brown congregation.

Despite the pandemic, Price’s family thought it was important that church members be able to say goodbye to the beloved pastor.

“It took a lot of amazing staff to make this viewing and these days of repose happen and the service in COVID. OMG. What a nightmare, it was quite daunting but we did it,” said Evans.

A private memorial service for Rev. Frederick K.C. Price takes place today at 11 a.m. PST. It will be closed to the public, but will stream live on the church website.