Instant salvation is being provided to busy motorists at a South Florida church with a drive-thru prayer service that provides on-the-spot spiritual guidance, ABC News reported.
After dust and debris from a nearby construction site halted the project nearly three years ago when members initially brainstormed the idea, Estero United Methodist Church, at 8088 Lord's Way, has recently rekindled its drive-thru prayer service.
Drivers racing down the highway Wednesday nights between 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. simply pull into an area outside the church in Estero, Fla., to receive redemption on their way home, drive-thru prayer service leader Pam Sebby said.
"It's been a godsend," she said. "After we pray over them and bless them, they leave."
The Prayer Warriors, as they call themselves, are a team of eight or nine church members who hold large signs directing traffic off Route 41 highway into the church parking lot, according to ABC News.
The team, clad in fluorescent orange vests, gathers around cars as they pull in, and join the motorist in prayer. Not surprisingly, they attract a lot of attention from passing motorists who honk and shout at them.
"We pray for them, too," Sebby said.
"Despite the popularity of the service, Sebby said, it hasn't necessarily increased the congregation numbers, which peak at around 1,100 in winter," ABC News reported. "But that's not the motivation, she explained, saying that the church is simply providing a service to reach out to members of the community."
ABC News added, "Across the country, other offbeat drive-thru services also provide speedy services for those a little overwhelmed by the fast pace of modern life."
While Illinois boasts a giant drive-thru department store where customers can preorder items on the Internet and then drive by to pick them up, one funeral home set up a drive-thru in California to allow people to mourn without leaving their cars.
As for the South Florida prayer service, "We hope this spreads throughout the entire United States of America," Sebby said. "A lot of churches can do this. Spreading prayer is what it's all about."
