Pastor Who Locked Himself in Prayer Room Until Crime Gets Better Says His Release Is Up to God

A Louisiana pastor has been locked inside a Baton Rouge prayer room for months, refusing to come out until crime goes down in the city.

Bishop Dwight Pate sealed himself off inside the room in early May, he told local outlet WAFB. Since, he’s spent his time praying for crime to ease up in Baton Rouge.

“The only place that it can be solved is the church,” Pate, 68, told WAFB. “I believe that prayer can change the hearts of the individuals that’s creating all the violence in town.”

It’s not the first time that Pate has entered self-imposed lockdown in the prayer room, which stands on a former used car lot he bought in 1981.

In 1994, he locked himself away for nearly eight months, again driven by rampant crime and drug use in Baton Rouge. He hunkered down for another five months in 2000, seeking divine intervention for the pain and suffering of the elderly.

Now, he’s opened it once again to call for a reduction in crime.

“Our spirit of peace can spread all over Baton Rouge and create a new standard of what I call righteousness and brotherly love,” he said.

When he first entered the prayer room, Pate started out preaching to empty chairs. But now, he says, his sermons draw people looking for something more in their lives.

“I used to put 50 chairs out here on the lot and preach to the empty chairs all day long until it became one of the major outreaches in this city,” he said. “People come in right off the street … being delivered from drugs, alcohol, marriage problems, sickness.”

Pate has faith that his retreat will pay off.

“There’s going to be such a move of God among people,” he told WAFB. “There’s going to be such a move of some of the most violent people in this city ― instead of going out killing, robbing and hurting people, bringing peace and joy and victory and forgiveness and love ― that you’re going to have to come out and report it.”

Pate is mum on when he plans to leave the prayer room, telling WAFB that it’s up to a higher power.