Arthur Price (minister)

Reverend Arthur Price (born August 23, 1965 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is the pastor of 16th Street Baptist Church.

Price grew up in Philadelphia's Southwark Housing Projects. His parents, a social agency worker and a teacher's aide, encouraged he and his siblings to attend church, though they were not active themselves. Arthur found a spiritual home in the church and became active as a youth leader.

Hoping to become an attorney, Price participated in internships with the Philadelphia Felony Court System and with then District Attorney Edward Rendell. He worked for five years in the District Attorney's office while studying at Temple University. Shortly after he married his wife, Candice, however, he made the decision to devote himself to ministry.

He pursued ministerial studies at the Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, New York and became an associate minister at Mt Vernon Baptist Church. When the pastor of Mt Vernon became ill, Price stepped in as interim pastor.

Price graduated with a Master of Divinity in 1995 and accepted the pastorate of Memorial Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York in 1998. He left that church to take the pulpit at 16th Street Baptist Church in 2001.

Since taking leadership of 16th Street Baptist, Price has led campaigns to increase membership, reduce mortgage debt, to conserve and restore the church building, and to secure property for future expansion. He compiled new manuals for deacons, employees, counselors and members. He also serves as spokesman for the church, which maintains an international presence due to its significance to the cause of Civil Rights.

References

• Furr, Gary (n. d.) "Rev. Arthur Price and Sixteenth Street Baptist Church" Pastoral Partnerships for Excellence. Samford University Resource Center for Pastoral Excellence - accessed February 9, 2009