Pastor John P. Kee recently announced that he will be paying the mortgage on Grace Tabernacle Christian Church, the church pastored by Elder Timothy Wright, until Wright's return. Kee, who currently pastors New Life Fellowship Center, in Charlotte, NC, is lending this support in an effort to relieve financial stress on the church and the Wright family as Pastor Wright continues his recovery process. 
The first picture of the Rev. Timothy Wright taken after he was critically injured in a car accident shows the famed Brooklyn pastor's resolve during a rehab session.
The "Godfather of Gospel" still cannot breathe, eat or walk on his own, more than a month after the horrific crash that killed his wife and grandson.
Still, in the most dire period of his life, Wright, 61, wants nothing more than to get back in the pulpit, preaching to his loving congregation.
"Can I go to church?" Wright asked his son Tuesday inside his hospital room at a New Jersey rehabilitation center.
"He says that all the time," David Wright, 30, told the Daily News as he stroked his father's shoulder.
Wright has been incapacitated since the July 4 accident that took the life of Betty Wright and his 14-year-old grandson, D.J.
Wright, the founder of Grace Tabernacle Christian Center in Crown Heights, suffered a severe spinal cord injury, a broken jaw, broken ribs and multiple fractures in his legs.
The Grammy Award-nominated pastor was moved to the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange on Thursday, but his veterans insurance doesn't cover the $4,033-a-day treatment he needs.
His family, joined by the Rev. Al Sharpton, are asking for donations to continue Wright's rehabilitation.
"He was always the one to help everybody else," Sharpton, a decades-long friend of the Wrights, said during a visit yesterday. "Now, it's time for everybody to help the Godfather."
Rev. Wright, 61, is joined in his room at the Kessler Institute by Sharpton, Wright’s son David and in suit, Carl Redding, Sharpton's assistant.
Sharpton said his goal is to raise at least $100,000 by week's end, noting that Wright's care at Kessler is likely to end up costing about half a million dollars.
"The insurance that he had covered him as far is it could," Sharpton said. "Now, he must depend on the insurance of his friends and his supporters."
The Wrights were returning to the city from a church conference in Detroit when a drunken driver heading the wrong way on a Pennsylvania highway hit their car head-on.
The driver, John Pick, 44, was killed in the crash.
Wright has recently regained feeling in his shoulders and is expected to be taken off of a respirator in six weeks, family friend Laurie Schneider said.
Schneider said she has been stunned by Wright's strength and devotion to his church despite his heartbreaking ordeal.
"He was asking to put a tent on the parking lot, so he can hold his services outside here," Schneider added. "That's all he's praying for - to give a service."
Give Today
If you would like to contribute to Rev. Wright's medical expenses, checks in the amount of $500 or more should be made out to The Kessler Institute. In the memo line please write: FOR TIMOTHY WRIGHT. Checks under $500 should be made out to Timothy Wright.
ALL checks should be mailed to this address:
Timothy Wright Trust
c/o Timothy Wright
3399 Lawson Blvd.
Oceanside, NY 11572
If you have any questions about donating, about the medical expenses, or about the reverend's condition, visit the Reverend's MySpace page for updated and official information and to learn how you can help.
Click Here
© 2008