At age 22, Robert Rice’s life was changed forever when a deacon from the Bethel Gospel Assembly Church in Harlem stopped him on 124th Street, offering a prayer and an invitation to church. In the 35-plus years since, Rice has served as a minister, evangelist, and avid gun violence prevention advocate in his community, gaining the title of “Harlem’s Chaplain.”
Rice, now 57, speaks out against gun violence at community centers and public events, and works directly with young people through schools and basketball tournaments in upper Manhattan. He also undertakes the grim task of responding to the scenes of shootings, and along with hospital staff, helping to break news to families that their loved ones have died and praying with them. He has visited more than 800 people who have been shot and ministered more than 120 funerals.
Rice says that because of the struggles he dealt with early on, including drug addiction, sexual abuse, and a learning disability, he has become mentally strong enough through his spiritual faith to do this work now.
“All of my trauma that I experienced as a child prepared me for the work I’m doing right now,” Rice said.
Despite a supportive mother and surrounding neighborhood, as well as siblings who have had success, he said his upbringing was riddled with strife. Born in the Bronx, Rice moved with his family to the James Weldon Johnson Houses in Spanish Harlem at age 3, where he was raised. Throughout childhood, he dealt with a speech impediment and severe ADHD, and was placed in special education.
At age 11, Rice said, he was introduced to marijuana and soon after to PCP. To deal with the addiction, Rice was admitted to the Manhattan Psychiatric Children’s Center at Ward’s Island between ages 13 and 15. He recalled an instance of being sexually abused by a staff member. He brought it to authorities, he said, but only a couple staffers believed him, while the majority of others did not.
By age 16, after being released, Rice began medicating himself with drugs because of the trauma, becoming addicted to crack cocaine during the height of the epidemic in the mid -1980s.
“Everybody was losing their mind,” Rice said. “You had doctors, lawyers, and school teachers; all of them lost their whole careers because they were on that drug.”
By age 19, Rice said, he was ready to kick his addiction because he did not want to keep letting down his family and friends in the neighborhood who were supportive. He said he was able to quit the drug cold turkey, even isolating himself in his apartment for three weeks. He credits the help of his mother, who introduced him to faith in God, prayer, and reading Bible verses together.
Around 1990, after first attending Bethel Gospel Assembly, Rice said Bishop Dr. Ezra Nehemiah Williams set him on a new path through religious faith. The church transformed his life, enabling him to pursue ministry. He credits his church’s program, the Beth Hart Christian Counseling Center, which offers marriage counseling and drug counseling services, for giving him the opportunity to better his life as a young man.
“Beth Hart taught me how to overcome my struggles and taught me how to go back into the community to serve the community that used to be me,” Rice said.
Rice got the drive to do more about gun violence in outreach ministry because he was tired of seeing shootings and their impact on the neighborhood.
Some of the mothers of the church would tutor Rice in phonics, allowing him to eventually get his high school diploma online. He said this is a major part of why he has a deep passion and love for supporting seniors.
In 2003, Rice graduated from the Manhattan Bible Institute, becoming an evangelist. In 2005, he graduated from United Chaplain to become a chaplain in the state of New York. He was also officially ordained a minister in 2017 by Bishop Dr. Carlton Brown and received his Clinical Pastoral Education license from the MTA in 2023.
Rice connects families with Jackie Rowe Adams’s organization, Harlem Mothers and Fathers Save, which supports parents who have lost children to gun violence.
After recently undergoing health procedures, including a total knee replacement surgery and having two stents placed in his heart to fix blockages, Rice continues to overcome and be driven by his mission to support his community. He is also in the process of telling his story through a book, as well as in talks for a film.
“This is my calling,” Rice said. “When I found God, God helped me overcome that and turned my life completely around.”
