Life Center Cathedral — Rebuilding the Dream

19th December 2011   ·   0 Comments

By Michael Radcliff
Contributing Writer

Guided by the love and devotion of a dedicated Christian mother, Lena M. Wiley, young Joseph Douglas Wiley received his call to preach at the ripe old age of seven.

“My spiritual journey started in 1963,” Bishop Wiley-Taylor explained to The Louisiana Weekly. “I look back at it sort of miraculous, and I still marvel that those wonderful souls in Pensacola who somehow sensed that the call was genuine, and would allow a seven-year-old get into the pulpit to preach.”

Educated in the public school systems of Pensacola, Florida and later after his family relocated, Flint, Michigan; in high school, he would be chosen by the Michigan Board of Education to become a delegate to the William Randolph Hearst Senate Youth Program in Washington D.C.

In 1979, he would earn his Bachelor of Arts in Theology from John Wesley College. During these formative years he would meet and form a life-long bond with the Reverend Dr. Gardner C. Taylor. Years later, Bishop J. D. Wiley would take on Dr. Taylor’s surname as his own, to pay homage to a man he deemed his spiritual father. After having accepted an appointment in 1981 to act as senior pastor for the Greater Morning Star Baptist Church of Mount Clements, Michigan, he would pastor his congregation for 12 years, until he received his calling to come to New Orleans.

1993 would prove to be a fateful year for Pastor Wiley. First, he would be awarded his Doctor of Divinity degree from the Union Baptist Theological Seminary of Birmingham, Alabama, and then, after arriving in New Orleans, under the guidance and support of his mentor and friend, Bishop Paul S. Morton Sr., and his Greater Saint Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church congregation – on November 26, 1993, the Life Center Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral would come to fruition with Pastor J. Douglas Wiley presiding as its founding pastor. The following year, Pastor Wiley hew was consecrated Bishop in the Full Gospel Baptist Church.

“We started off in an abandoned employment office for ATT on Franklin Ave. in Gretna, La.,” recalled Bishop Wiley-Taylor. “Seven years later, in April 2000, we moved to our current location at 1 Life Center Drive in Algiers, on the West Bank of New Orleans. Prior to Katrina, we had a church enrollment of over 15,000 people.”

While the East Bank of New Orleans was engulfed with water after the levees breeched, the West Bank suffered primarily from the turbulent winds of Katrina. Life Center Cathedral’s roof was virtually shredded into pieces. Subsequent rains and Hurricane Rita obliterated any hope of salvaging the remaining structure – Life Center’s insurer eventually declared the structure a total loss.

“In the beginning, God’s house was in a tent before it was constructed by King Solomon into a temple,” explained Bishop Wiley-Taylor.

“After Katrina, my family returned to New Orleans in October of 2005,” Bishop Wiley-Taylor explained to The Louisiana Weekly. “Unlike many other families, businesses and churches, Life Center didn’t have any trouble with our insurance company; our trouble was with our out-of-state contractor! It was a very difficult situation,” he lamented, “almost like another storm.”

Phae Howard, executive director of the National Center for the Prevention of Home Improvement Fraud, said that shoddy contractors descend on areas that have been through devastation and try to take advantage of stressed-out homeowners. She said there were over 9,000 complaints of work by shoddy and unscrupulous contractors after Hurricane Katrina, adding, “Those were only the ones reported, [unfortunately], a lot of them were not reported.”

“We made the mistake of selecting an unreliable out of town contractor,” Bishop Wiley-Taylor ex­plained, “and I think [after Katrina] many of them converged on the city. We were able to recoup some of the money, but lost upwards of $2 million by the time you calculate the cost of litigation and all of the other expenses.

“In spite of this, we were blessed in that we were able to take part of the insurance proceeds and pay off the mortgage on the property – and I thank God for that.”

He continued, “one of the most incredible things I’ve seen in my life is the faithfulness and consistency of our Life Center Congregation to worship in a tent for over five years. Nevertheless, I know the people of the church have endured. At first, the purpose of the tent was simply a means to shelter the congregation. But let’s face it, after a while, for many, I’m sure it’s become a source of humiliation and embarrassment; especially with people constantly asking about the church. However, throughout it all, they have remained vigilant, faithful and steadfast – and I praise God that their faithfulness will soon be rewarded.”

“My primary vision, of course, is to rebuild this temple… but I also have a vision for this community,,” Bishop Wiley-Taylor told The Louisiana Weekly. “I think that the church should be active in the life of this community. My goal is to be proactive… When a young man is incarcerated, when he drops out of school we have already failed him in some way. By the time we get to crime and gangs… it’s too late, it’s after the fact. We need to take the role as leader by addressing social ills in a proactive way.

Wiley-Taylor made it clear that he is as committed to rebuilding the community as he is to rebuilding the house of worship where he leads a flock of believers.

“I envision the day when children and their parents can walk out their houses and see a decent playground, a health center, and an affordable or free daycare center. These are some of the issues that can be dealt with, if we act proactively. Are we going to eliminate all of the problems? No, but we can ameliorate the problem by acting proactively. I would like to see Life Center acting as the hub of several effective, proactive community programs that will make a difference in the lives of people in this community. And I’ve already named it Life Village. So, to me it’s a holistic approach — health, housing, education, employment and youth services.

While he admits that the post-Katrina ordeal his congregation faced has been long and arduous, the charismatic minister says he is grateful for the character and strength his congregation has displayed in the wake of the devastating hurricane.

“It’s been a very, very, difficult situation,” Bishop Wiley-Taylor told The Louisiana Weekly. “It’s almost been like a second storm, but one of the most incredible things that I have ever seen in my life is the faithfulness and consistency of our Life Center Congregation to worship in a tent for over five years. But, it won’t be long now before the new building will be under construction.”

Bishop J.D. Wiley-Taylor is married to the former Lisa V. Reese of Mount Clemens, Michigan, and they are the parents of three children, Kourtney Olan, Aisha Elizabeth, and Alicia Felise.

This article was originally published in the December 19, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper