Tulsa Church Uses Drive-Thru Prayer To Reach People In Pandemic

A Tulsa church has found a new way to reach out to people who, especially during the pandemic, might otherwise keep driving.

Parkview Baptist Church offers drive-thru prayers from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. every Wednesday.

Anyone driving on Sheridan will see the signs: “Need Prayer?” The offer is unavoidable, and the question has people pulling in to answer.

It's a standing offer for the Wednesday lunch hour, with Pastors in the prayer lane, waiting, and the staff out on the sidewalk doing the advertising.

“They took a risk to pull off the street, to come in here and say would you pray for me,” Curt Payne of Parkview Baptist Church.

Their inspiration was the need to re-connect to the community, and for a model they didn't have to look far - there are two other successful drive thru's across the street, but here the menu is as varied as the needs of all those drivers passing through.

"They just need to talk with somebody and be prayed for and prayed over and have some contact maybe they haven't had in a long time,” Pastor Steve Lewis said.

The pastors take as much as time as the driver wants to spend, usually just a few minutes.

The church started doing this five weeks ago and said they'll continue as long as they're meeting some needs.