Transitioning To Power: A Look At Pastor Fred Price Jr.

The following article was originally posted in this month's edition of EIF Magazine.

It was 30 years ago in March that Dr. Frederick K.C. Price held his infant son up during a church dedication service and said, “Frederick K. Price, I offer you up unto the Lord our God and dedicate you to our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Moving words—especially considering that his birth was a prophecy come to life. When Dr. Betty was pregnant with Frederick, she received a prophesy from Kenneth Hagin at an All Faiths Crusade at the Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. “God has restored what the devil stole from you many years ago. This child will be a blessing to you and will help you in the ministry,” prophesied Hagin. It was truly a profound moment for the Price’s whose first-born son Frederick K.C. Price, Jr. was struck by an automobile when he was only eight years old. He died of his injuries.

God indeed brought that prophecy to pass and is using the life of Dr. Price’s son in a magnificent way. On March 15, 2009, Pastor Fred Price will officially be installed as Pastor of Crenshaw Christian Center, the church his father started more than 35 years ago. The date is special because it also marks Pastor Fred’s 30th birthday.

“Fred will start his public ministry at the same age as Jesus did. That is prophetic,” said Dr. Price.

The decision was announced in November 2008 during the church’s 35th anniversary. While Dr. Price won’t be handling the senior pastor duties anymore, that doesn’t mean he will be disappearing from the scene. Dr. Price will still be doing what he loves best—teaching on Sundays and during the weekly Bible Study, working with the board of directors and mentoring his son.

Much of this sounds like a scene from the movie “Lion King,” And Pastor Fred agrees that it feels like it too. “Lion King is a good illustration,” he points out. “If you remember at the beginning, Rafiki, the little prophet monkey holds Simba up on behalf of Mufasa and his wife. At the end of the movie, he holds the new little baby up for Simba. Of course in this case Mufasa is not dying, he’s not going anywhere. I did see the transition like that. It’s my time to be king, so to speak. I’m really okay with it. I look forward to it because it looks like a challenge. I have confidence in some of the things that I’ll implement.

Before I implement ideas, I’m going to implement me. I think that when I implement me, God is going to use me in some interesting ways. I’m up for it. I’m not nervous. I’m not scared. I’m not frightened. I’m in anticipation of it.”
Chalk up the lack of fear to the fact that Pastor Fred has been working in the ministry as a pastor for the past six years and that his father will be here to help teach him the ropes.

“I think this situation is probably how it’s supposed to be,” said Pastor Fred. “I even look at it like this. God had interaction with man in the earth, it wasn’t like the Father was here and then He left. Then Jesus came and then Jesus was here and He left and then the Spirit came.

The Spirit of the Lord had interaction with man in the Old Testament. Pre-incarnate Jesus had interaction with man in the Old Testament. Then you see the Spirit descending upon Jesus in His earthly ministry. Jesus and the Holy Spirit had interaction with man. It wasn’t like the current boss was here and then he leaves. I think this is how it’s supposed to be. As he’s phasing out, he’s phasing me in. He’s still here to mentor me and teach me and show me the ropes. That’s the ideal situation anyway.”

Currently, Pastor Fred is taking the time to learn the ropes. While teaching is nothing new, the administrative side of pastoring is a new phase for this husband and father of one. His days have become full with mandatory meetings, officiating the majority of weddings and memorial services and counseling.

While Pastor Fred is excited about the new responsibilities that await him, one thing he’s had to face are naysayers—those who think he may be too young or inexperienced to lead such a large and influential ministry.

Naysayers have always been fuel for me,” he explains. “I encourage the naysayers to categorize and list everything that they think I should have or should be doing. My only reply to them is watch. They’ll see.”

Truth is, the younger Price has received far more accolades than criticism.

“I’ve seen some letters with my own eyes that have been negative. Some people are looking for a flaw. But most of the response if positive, probably because of the way he presented me to the people. It wasn’t like, ‘here’s your new pastor, I’m gone.’

People were able to see me grow. All of that is what makes the transition easier. On top of that, I respect the old school. I respect my elders. People always tell me that my wisdom is beyond my years.

That’s just because of my surroundings. That’s why it’s making the transition a lot smoother. I can’t tell you how many notes I’ve received from people who tell me that they have been here from the beginning with my father and they served under him and are looking forward to serving under me. That’s very humbling so the naysayers are very few.”

Pastor Fred accepted the call to preach right out of high school and went to attend the Cottonwood Christian Center School of Ministry as an alternative to Long Beach State where he had been enrolled. Two years later in 2002, he graduated from Cottonwood and became a licensed minister. That same year, he preached his first sermon in the FaithDome titled, “Does God Show Favoritism?”

The following year, in 2003, Frederick was ordained by his father Dr. Price. His life has pretty much been ministry work, though he admits that one time he did try his hand as a salesman pushing Cutco knives. Though he grew up a pastor’s child and ministry work has been all he knows, Pastor Fred is more than well-rounded.

A serious gamer, he’s into Xbox 360 and counts Call of Duty: World at War as his favorite video game at the moment. He’s also very much a bookworm and is into a bevy of subjects from his father’s books to fantasy and science fiction to history and information.

His goal now is to continue building the ministry his father established while stamping his signature as pastor.
“I’m a free-thinking techie. I observe differently but intuitively and in detail the way he does. I may pick different things out. I think I’ll be a leader in the same manner that he is. Excellence will still be the cusp of the ministry.

“Here’s I want: to see not just new membership and seats being filled but new life being breathed back into the ministry,” Pastor Price says. “I want to see new life—a youthful feel. A new excitement—that’s really what I’m looking forward to. My pastoring—on Sundays people mostly see me teaching. They know that I can teach but the pastoring are the other things—dealing with the people, making the hard decisions—things like that. I want to be a seasoned pastor. I want to see myself seasoned in a shorter time than what would be expected.”