Resilient

Bishop Joseph L. Banks

Bishop Joseph L. Banks answered the call to ministry in 1995 and was appointed Bishop in August 2019. A visionary leader, educator, and entrepreneur, Bishop Banks left a 13-year career with UPS to fully pursue the divine assignment God placed on his life.

A graduate of Southern University with a degree in Secondary Education, Bishop Banks also holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Theology, as well as Doctoral degrees in Divinity and Theology from Life Christian University. In 2001, he founded Living Word Christian Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana-an outreach-focused ministry committed to foreign missions, education, and community development.

Bishop Banks later established a fully accredited extension campus of Life Christian University and launched the Word Ministerial Alliance (WMA) to mentor and equip emerging leaders in five-fold ministry. Today, he oversees churches across the United States, South Africa, Mexico, Ghana, and Liberia, and continues to travel globally preaching and teaching the Gospel.

In addition to his pastoral calling, Bishop Banks is a respected educator in the Calcasieu Parish School System and serves on the Mayor's Advisory Board for Lake Charles, bridging faith and civic leadership. A successful entrepreneur, he owns multiple businesses and non-profit organizations and is developing a groundbreaking campus for a church, school, and business incubator in Monrovia, Liberia.

He has been married for over 30 years to his beloved wife, Dr. Cathy S. Banks. Together, they share one son, Kirkland Joseph Banks, a professional athlete in the MLB Draft League.