A pastor from new York decided to get acquainted with their neighbors and lend them a helping hand. And it was inspired by this comic strip “Peanut”. The pastor has a special stand on the corner of 88th street and Lexington Avenue, which every week he takes hundreds of people.
Every Tuesday on one street corner in new York there is a stand which sits the pastor of the Lutheran Church “Immanuel” Gregory fryer. He watches the passers-by.
“I’m the pastor of this Church for 25 years, but I realized that to meet people easier, if you just sit on a street corner,” he says.
His bright yellow booth set up on the old comics.
“I liked the idea of the stand psychiatric help Lucy with the words “Psychiatric office. Five cents. The doctor on the spot.” And one day I thought, what can I do “pastoral” version of this stand,” explains Gregory fryer.
Some people understand, others not quite. In any case, the pastor fryer gets results.
“Stop all sorts of people. And I think they all fit, showing good will. Sometimes people sit down at my bench and cry. Because each of us has a story. We all have our hopes and dreams, sorrows and failures. And I’m a pastor. My goal is to listen more carefully and then to speak words of encouragement, to talk about Jesus,” he says.
If you sit on a street corner as often as the pastor fryer, you will definitely notice. In the first place so he began to do so — to let people know that he is available to them.
“Our Church is beautiful. I love her with all my heart. But some people find it a little scary — that’s what I fear. So I just sit at this humble stand that is open to all,” says Gregory fryer.
With this approach, the pastor fryer frees people from the fear of failure because he does it consistently every week.
“Theoretically, the stand could even no one stop. But then I’d be fine, because I look at them. These are my neighbors. The neighbors of our Church. So I’m trying to remember them, and when you see them in other places, get to know them, and they recognize me,” he says.
After the pastor did that for almost a year, some of those whom he supported prayer in the street, now are at the door of his Church.
“If it saved at least one soul, it will be all worth it. And such a soul is already there: we recently baptized a young man that I met at the booth,” says the pastor.
As for the five-cent fee, it pays for the Church itself. However, many throw coins or bills in order to help this case.
“I think it’s because they like the idea. They like the idea of such accessibility of the pastor, even if they do not feel the need for it,” says pastor Gregory fryer.