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Oct 11, 2008 8:02 am US/Eastern
New Yorkers Making Big Religious Investments
While The Stock Market Tanks, Citizens Are Flocking To Wall Street Houses Of Worship To Pray For Relief
By CAROLYN COSTELLO, CBS 2 HD News
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The economic crisis has brokers and investors taking advice from the back of a penny – In God we trust.
As CBS 2 HD found out on Friday, uncertain financial investments have led more and more people to make a religious one.
Trinity Church has looked over Wall Street for centuries, but more people are looking to the church these days as faith in the market fades.
Dennis Pidherny spent his lunch break at the church's midday service. He's been coming more often in the last few weeks.
"It's certainly a quiet atmosphere without a Bloomberg screen in front of you," Pidherny said.
He leaves each day with a renewed sense of strength.
"No matter what happens I can get through this," Pidherny said. "We can all get through this."
And Pidherny is not alone. Father Mark Bozzuti-Jones said as stocks plunge on Wall Street attendance here is spiking. The church has opened its doors and its arms.
"If truth be told, this is only the beginning. There will be wider consequences," Father Bozzuti-Jones said. "We'll be here for the months to come.
And the church is going one step further. Listed on a flyer are special workshops now being offered to help people cope with stress and the possibility of losing their jobs.
"I think everyone's afraid of losing their jobs," Pidherny said. "I could lose my job tomorrow."
There's more praying at the Wall Street Synagogue, too. The rabbi here said people are coming to service more often and talking about Wall Street woes.
Regardless of faith, those who pray regularly have some advice on this economic crisis.
"Prayer never hurts," one woman said.
"Even before the economy went bad you should have been praying," a man added.
They said never place all your faith in the almighty dollar.
It's no coincidence the Wall Street Synagogue was founded in 1929 -- the year of the great stock market crash.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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