With the average cost of gas hovering around $5 per gallon, one church in Louisiana is doing its part to relieve some of the pain at the pump.
Pastor J. Garland Smith of Lone Wa Worship Center in Monroe, Louisiana, told KNOE-TV that, this past Sunday, his congregation offered communion, prayer, and $25 worth of free gas to the first 200 drivers who came into the church’s parking lot.
Word apparently traveled fast because, by 9:30 a.m. Sunday, some 25 cars were already at the church. And within an hour, all the gas cards were gone — but that didn’t slow down some church members’ generosity.
“And after the 200 gas cards had run out, there were about 10 or 15 additional persons still left,” said Charles D. Jones, another pastor at the church. “Members of our church took them to the gas station to bless them with gas.”
Jones said that many of the people who received gas from the church told congregants they wouldn’t have been able to afford gas for their vehicles, had it not been for the church’s kind act.
Several people, the pastor said, “just had enough gas to get to the church.”
Overall, Smith described the friendly act as “a wonderful time,” adding, “We’ve had a wonderful time today, as we endeavor to share the love of Christ and meet basic needs.”
In other news, at the beginning of the week, a BP gas station in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, dropped its price to the “pre-inflation” cost of $2.38 per gallon, according to WPXI-TV. The initiative — which lasted from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. — was in partnership with the Pennsylvania branch of the conservative political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity and its “True Cost of Washington” campaign.
Oil CEOs are slated to visit the White House on Thursday for what has been dubbed an “emergency meeting” to discuss the soaring gas prices. However, President Joe Biden will reportedly not be in attendance. Instead, the sit-down will be led by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, The Hill reported.
This comes as Biden is promoting a gas tax holiday, although members of his party — including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — are not endorsing the idea.
Reporting from Faithwire.
