Activists Keep the Faith, if Not Their Money

Video

Praying in the Name of Gas

D.C. residents have began gathering at a gas station in Petworth for 'Prayer At the Pump' in response to unprecedented gas prices.

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On Thursday, onlookers included the puzzled, the amused, the inspired and the skeptical.

Sylvester Shorter, 61, of Southeast Washington was pumping $20 worth of regular as the group sang.

"They're praying," he said dismissively. "Do I still have to pay $20?"

A public relations consultant, Twyman is experienced at garnering publicity and has staged campaigns over the years for various causes, from tsunami relief to bone marrow donations for minorities.

In 2005, he began a movement to get Oprah Winfrey the Nobel Peace Prize. (She did not win.) Last year, he led prayers for rain in drought-afflicted Georgia. (Rain did eventually fall.)

To some observers, the idea of praying in public for cheaper gas is "uniquely American."

Johannes Wiebus, an independent producer who recently filmed one of Twyman's demonstrations for a German TV network, said: "You've got this issue -- high gas prices -- which is an economic issue, a political issue, but no one in their wildest dreams would make it a religious issue in Germany."

But to some local drivers feeling the pinch, frustrated at the inability of politicians to solve the problem, the question isn't, "Why pray for cheap gas?" It's, "Why not?"

"I think it's a wonderful thing," said Mirrine Thorne of Northwest Washington, who pulled in to gas up her Chevy Impala as Twyman's group prayed. Thorne, a mother of four, said gas prices have limited the activities she can do with her kids on the weekends.

"Nobody else is doing anything," she said. "God is going to do something."

After a few minutes of song and appeals to customers to join the movement, Twyman and his group began their departure, their hope and faith replenished.

The price of regular? $3.91.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.