Frederick K. C. Price (January 3, 1932 – February 12, 2021) was an American televangelist and author who was the founder and apostle of

Crenshaw Christian Center The Crenshaw Christian Center is a non-denominational megachurch based in Los Angeles, California. It has around 28,000 members. History The church was founded in 1973 by Frederick K. C. Price in Inglewood, California. In 1981, the church b ...

(CCC), located in

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He was known for his ''Ever Increasing Faith'' ministries broadcast, which aired weekly on television and radio.

Early life

Price was born in 1932 in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

, a

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suburb, the eldest son of Winifred and Frederick Price, Sr., who owned a janitorial service in West Los Angeles. Frederick attended McKinley Elementary School in Santa Monica, Foshay Junior High,

Manual Arts High School Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high sch ...

and

Dorsey High School Susan Miller Dorsey High School is a high school located in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, California. It is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school serves Baldwin Hills, Baldwin Village, Jefferson Park, West Adams a ...

in Los Angeles, and then completed two years of schooling at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campu ...

. He later received an honorary diploma from the

Rhema Bible Training Center Kenneth Erwin Hagin (August 20, 1917 – September 19, 2003) was an American preacher. He is known for pioneering the Word of Faith movement. Biography Personal life Kenneth E. Hagin was born August 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, the son of ...

(1976) and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Oral Roberts University (1982). Both of his parents, who had once been practicing Jehovah's Witnesses at the time he met his future wife Betty, had stopped practicing the religion, and were also outspoken against all organized religions. While courting Betty, his high school sweetheart, he began attending church services with her. However, after their marriage, he stopped attending church regularly until a group of Los Angeles-area churches began sponsoring a week of old-fashioned

tent revival A tent () is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over, attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using g ...

s in the Crenshaw area. Price began attending these services with his wife. At one of these services, he received

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

as his personal savior. Soon after becoming born again, Price claimed to have felt the call from

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

to go into the ministry, serving mostly part-time, while working as a paper cutter, as an assistant pastor in a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

church from 1955 to 1957. He then pastored an African Methodist Episcopal church in

Val Verde, California Val Verde () (Spanish for "Green Valley") is an unincorporated community in the southeastern Topatopa Mountains foothills, and in northwestern Los Angeles County, California. The unincorporated community of Valencia and the city of Santa Clarita ...

from 1957 to 1959. In the early 1960s, Price served at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. Price then joined the

Christian and Missionary Alliance The Alliance World Fellowship is the international governing body of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (The Alliance, also C&MA and CMA). The Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within the Higher Life movement of Christianity ...

at West Washington Community Church in 1965.

Ministry work

In February 1970, Price has claimed he received the

baptism of the Holy Spirit In Christian theology, baptism with the Holy Spirit, also called baptism in the Holy Spirit or baptism in the Holy Ghost, has been interpreted by different Christian denominations and traditions in a variety of ways due to differences in the doctr ...

, and also said he spoke in tongues, a time which he considered the starting point in his own ministry. Shortly thereafter, he encountered the Bible-teaching ministry of late preacher/

televangelist Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-pr ...

Kenneth E. Hagin. Price joined the

neo-charismatic movement The Neo-charismatic (also third-wave charismatic or hypercharismatic) movement is a movement within evangelical Protestant Christianity that is composed of a diverse range of independent churches and organizations that emphasize the post-biblical ...

, affiliating with

Word of Faith Word of Faith is a movement within charismatic Christianity which teaches that Christians can get power and financial prosperity through prayer, and that those who believe in Jesus' death and resurrection have the right to physical health. The ...

, and began to teach the messages on speaking in tongues, divine healing, and prosperity teachings. He and his wife Betty co-founded the Crenshaw Christian Center that same year in the Crenshaw section of West Los Angeles, California.

Crenshaw Christian Center

In November 1973, Price moved with about 300 church members from West Washington in Los Angeles in order to establish the Crenshaw Christian Center in Inglewood, California. Membership continued to grow, and in 1977 the church was forced to hold two services, with another service added in 1982, because the 1,400-seat sanctuary was always filled to capacity. In 1981, the church bought the old

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

campus. After the purchase, Price oversaw construction of a new sanctuary, called the "FaithDome", which at the time was the largest domed church in the United States. Ground was broken for the FaithDome on September 28, 1986, and construction began on January 5, 1987. Construction was completed in 1989 on the 10,146-seat dome at a cost of more than $10 million. At the time of its dedication on January 21, 1990, the dome and the church's property were both fully paid for, leaving the ministry debt-free.

Christian Word of Faith Ministries

In 1990, Price founded the Fellowship of International Christian Word of Faith Ministries (FICWFM), which includes churches and ministers from all over the United States and several other countries. They meet regionally throughout the year and hold a major annual convention. Price was a

teacher.

Family and personal life

Price married the former Betty Ruth Scott, whom he met while attending Dorsey High School, in 1953. They had five children. (one child died during childhood)

Death

Price died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

at a hospital in Los Angeles on February 12, 2021, at the age of 89.

Selected books written by Price

* ''Faith, Foolishness, or Presumption?'', 160 pages, , , Publisher: Harrison House, Incorporated, Publication date: January 1, 1981 * ''How to Obtain Strong Faith: Six Principles'', , , 192 pages, Publisher: Harrison House, Incorporated, Publication date: August 28, 1982 * ''Homosexuality: State of Birth or State of Mind?'', First Edition, Pub. Date: September 1, 1989, Publisher: Harrison House, , * ''Faith's Greatest Enemies'', Paperback, , , Publisher: Harrison House, Incorporated, Publication date: January 2, 1995 * ''Race, Religion and Racism'', Vol. 1, First Edition, Pub. Date: July 1999, Publisher: Anchor Distributors, , * ''The Christian Family: Practical Insight for Family Living'', 318 pages, , , Publisher: Faith One Publishing, Publication date: July 28, 2002 * ''How Faith Works'', Paperback, 301 pages, , , Publisher: Faith One Publishing, Publication date: July 28, 2002 * ''The Holy Spirit: The Helper We All Need'', Paperback, , , Publisher: Faith One Publishing, Publication date: July 28, 2002 * ''Race, Religion and Racism'', Vol. 2, First Edition, , , Publisher: Anchor Distributors, Publication date: January 7, 2003 * ''Answered Prayer Guaranteed!: The Power of Praying with Faith'', 224 pages, , , Publisher: Charisma Media, Publication date: August 28, 2006 * ''Prosperity: Good News for God's People'', 192 pages, , , Publisher: Strang Communications Company, Publication date: January 28, 2008

References

External links

Biography at Crenshaw Christian Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Frederick K. C. 1932 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers African-American Christian clergy African-American non-fiction writers American Christian clergy American Pentecostal pastors American television evangelists Christian writers Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California Pentecostals from California People from Los Angeles Writers from Santa Monica, California Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni Writers from Los Angeles 21st-century African-American people