"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." - 2 Timothy 4:7-8
Obsequies & Celebration of Life
The Sovereign Will of God was discharged on Saturday, April 23, 1938 at the birth of Bishop Willie Culclager, Jr. He was born to parents, Mr. Willie Culclager, Sr. and Mrs. Cora Lee Bray Culclagerin in the small town of Wabbaseka, Arkansas. His grandparents, Mr. Eddie Bray, Sr. and Mrs. Sarah Bray were sharecroppers and both were one generation removed from slavery.
He was the first grandchild born and lavished with an abundance of love by his grandparents. He refers to his rearing in Arkansas as a good solid start in learning life’s lessons while acquiring a good work ethic and moral standard. Young Willie was not yet old enough to work the cotton fields but went along to observe other family members. Bishop Willie Culclager, Jr. often remarked in a retrospective manner that “The Cotton Never Grew That Tall Again” after the title of his first autobiography.
Bishop Culclager’s humble beginnings gave him an appreciation for life, history, and a strong work ethic. He started formal school late, at the age of eight. Yet due to his academic prowess, he skipped two grades graduating in 956 as the valedictorian of the Wabbaseka Training School. Their class theme was: “The Spirit of the Times Bids Us Speed.”
Immediately following graduation, the young and promising Willie moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he immediately sought work as he waited to reach age nineteen at which time he had hoped to join the United States Air Force. His first job was a position at Knowles Restaurant located on 14th & Main Street. He held positions as a porter, yard man, and pot washer. Later in that same year, he moved onto Putsch’s Restaurant located in the Country Club Plaza where he found work as a pot washer, yard man, and an assistant dishwasher.
Putsch’s restaurant served as the backdrop for a destiny affirming meeting for the young, dutiful Willie Culclager. He met Ida Mae McCleod, who he spotted at the bus stop on the Country Club Plaza. They experienced love at first sight and dated for months before being united in holy matrimony on June 3, 1957. During their seventeen-year union, there were eight children born which comprised one boy and seven girls.
Although the young Willie Culclager, Jr. had aspirations of joining the United States Air Force, he had a family to provide for so he began to seek employment with both the Kansas City Fire Department and the Kansas City Police Department. In the end, he accepted a position with KCPD. On October 16, 1963 he joined a class of 91 recruits, where he was the only Black professional. As a student of history, this was important to him because of the nature of the racial and political climate during that time. He recalled the names of other black men who had served in the department prior to his arrival such as: Alvin Brooks, William Bumpus, Lloyd DeGraffenried, Sr., Willie Walton, Gene Buie, Thomas “Tucky” Saunders, Ira Jenkins, Henry Scott, Sylvester Young, Robert “Bo” Carrington, Virgil Braden, Alvin Lomax, Montell Roberts, Walter Parker, Leroy V. Swift, Rufus Evans, Sr. Charlie Pride, Cecil Starksdale, Ivy Warden, Bently Jaco, Omar Brown, Wendell Marshall, Maurice Brown, Lester Dukes, and Major Clifford Warren - who he thought “looked good in all of that gold braid.” and Lester Dukes. He held very strongly that he could be in the class that he was accepted into because of the shoulders of these men onto which he stood.
They represented courage to the now young recruit. In the book he wrote, he remarked, “These officers were mentioned because they were the forerunners or the prototypes of black officers that were in the department at that time. These were the officers that stood up and demanded respect from themselves and their peers; they were the foundation on whose shoulders, we all stood. It is amazing, but 50 years later as I write this, I can remember all their names, without going to the record book. They were impressive and that was an impressive time.”
While in the KCPD police academy, on November 22, 1963, he and his recruits received news that the President of the United States had been assassinated and class was dismissed for the day. Willie Culclager, Jr. retreated home to watch the news coverage on live television where he noted seeing Lee Harvey Oswald shot in the basement of the Dallas, Texas police building.
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." - Psalm27:1-4 KJV
Family, Work, and The Church
Willie Culclager settled into family life and co-parenting four girls. Following his graduation from the academy, Willie officially became a member of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department. He made history by becoming a member of the first ever SWAT Unit created in the KCPD in 1968 following riots in the area. He was the first black Dispatch and he wrote an operating manual for the Records Department to help future employees. He was initially assigned to the first shift or 'dog watch' 11 PM to 7 AM shift at the Central Patrol Division. Later, he was promoted to the position of Sergeant for the remainder of his 30-year tenure until 1993, after which he retired from service as a decorated and well respected leader.
Early in his tenure with KCPD, Willie Culcager, Jr. united in membership at the Victory Temple church under Pastor Harold “Bo” Daniels. During his membership he met the former Vivian Lee Love in 1974 and on June 5, 1976, they were united in holy matrimony for 38 years until her transition in 2014.
In 1975, Willie Culclager, Jr. united in membership with The Most High God church under Bishop John D. Fowler and Mother Fowler. After expressing his submission to the call of the ministry in 1975 Bishop Fowler ordained him and launched him into the work as an Elder. The Atkinson & Curry family tarried with Elder Culclager until he received the Holy Ghost with the gift of tongues. Meanwhile, members of The Most High God Church were in a season of great discouragement that threatened to dismantle the congregation. In 1978, Bishop Fowler installed him as Pastor of The Most High God Church. Pastor Willie Culclager, Jr. immediately got to work rebuilding people, rebuilding the organization, and eventually he rebuilt the faith of the people.
Pastor Willie Cuclager, Jr. worked as a police officer and simultaneously labored unceasingly and the church membership increased. The church that was once on the brink was now experiencing continuous growth in the 41st & Indiana church building .To keep up with the growth the savvy businessman acquired a new church which was formerly the Dr. Wells medical building located at 3325 Prospect. Highly spirited services and a personal touch kept drawing new members to The Most High God Church God’s Yielded Vessel. The church outgrew this location within 5 years and then acquired a new building at 3544 Prospect. The growth continued and Pastor Culclager, seeing the need for more worship space, set his intention on acquiring the Safeway Grocery store next to the church.
However, destiny would interrupt this plan because the Victory Way Free Church was experiencing great loss as their Pastor and third Presiding Prelate, Charles W. Burchette passed away in late 1992. They were in need of a new leader. Pastor Willie Culclager, Jr. was already well known to the congregation as the two churches enjoyed abundant fellowship. In their search for their next Shepherd, First Lady Pearle Burchette made the suggestion that Pastor Culclager should become the next leader of the church. In 1993, Pastor Willie Culclager, Jr. was officially installed and he made the decision to unite the two churches as one membership forming a new, greater organization named Victory Way Most High God Free Church located in the 3023 Monroe building.
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." - Psalm 23:1-4 KJV
Divine Elevation
In 1996, Bishop Joel Wren, Sr., the fourth Presiding Prelate & Chief Apostle of The Free Churches of God True Holiness, seeing Pastor Culclager’s stewardship and leadership, elevated him to the position of Jurisdictional Bishop giving him charge over Missouri and Arkansas. In the move, he also made him 1st Assistant to the Presiding Bishop. In June 2002, after the transition of Bishop Joel Wren, Sr., Bishop Willie Culclager, Jr. ascended to diocese leadership as the fifth in succession, Presiding Prelate & Chief Apostle of The Free Churches of God True Holiness, USA. He has served the diocese faithfully, fruitfully, and fully these last twenty-two years as the Chief Presiding Official.
While serving as head of the newly formed Victory Way church, he revealed that he had a name idea for a church that was deeply personal to him. It was “God’s Yielded Vessel.” Bishop Willie Culclager, Jr. spent years grappling with the idea posed as a question that he summarized into one thought: “I wonder what God would do with a yielded vessel.” It remains both a powerful reminder and an indictment to the sobering truth of the seriousness of the vow that every believer was enjoined themselves in the Great Submission of and to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ our Lord.
What will God do with a yielded vessel? He will take you to the varied heights of life and ministry as well as guide you through life’s most turbulent storms. Bishop Willie Culclager, Jr. was a success story both in his chosen vocation as a police officer and in his work with the churches charged to his stewardship. He brought his personal resources to the diocese to help purchase income producing properties. He regularly assisted the elderly in their personal business affairs, provided for seniors and ensured their general welfare. Regularly, he supported widows who had to manage life’s affairs in the absence of their husbands.
Bishop Culclager’s involvement with the community included but was not limited to student school visits, prison visits, bonding persons out, burying members loved ones, providing community help, hosting radio shows, teaching courses at high schools, taking other pastors under his wings to encourage them, purchasing small homes for parishioners and of course, making the proverbial loans that turned into gifts.
Bishop Willie Culclager, Jr. was a man in all seasons and in all situations, he was THE man.
Bishop Culclager, Jr. lived a high ethical and moral standard; a life worthy of examination. For all of these moments and so many more, a life filled with such wisdom, dignity, honor, and humility necessitates that we stop to salute and celebrate a true man of God, an American hero; One who has rigorously sought to personify the requirement of the Lord to Man, outlined as the duty of Man, which is to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with the Most High God.
Now, The Sovereign Will of God has discharged one final act within the life of the Presiding Prelate and Chief Apostle, on that day, Thursday, June 27, 2024, as he heralded our beloved Bishop from this earthbound time into the liberty of the great, vast, limitless ages of eternity, for him to be consumed with the awe and splendor of the Most High God whom he served with great humility, unflinching submission and excellency of character.
Preceding him in death: Wife: Vivian Lee Culclager, Daughter: Willie Mae Culclager, Granddaughter, Dabria Joy Culclager, Parents: Mr. Willie Culclager, Sr. and Mrs. Cora Lee Rowe Culclager; Grandparents: Mr. Eddie Bray, Sr. and Mrs. Sarah Bray.
Now, to honor his great legacy, Bishop Willie Culclager, Jr. leaves: Daughters: Patrice A. Culclager-Kidd, (Alvin Kidd); Adriene D. Gardner, Paula T. Culclager; Grandchildren: Zeruiah L. Culclager-Dennis; Prince Culclager Beverly; Sister: Cleary D. Culclager Spotswood; Evelyn Graydon, Phyllis Culclager, Sheila (Andrew) Goodloe, Tangerlia (Rickie) Britten, Shanica (Antonio) Brown; Brothers: Benjamin Collier Sr., Charles (Vera) Collier Sr., Marvin (Monica) Sloan Sr.; Great Grandchildren: Layla, Lida, and Deon and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and church members.
"This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. - I Timothy 3:1-7 KJV
The Official Arrangements
The family of the Most Reverend Willie Culclager, Jr. pauses to express, with deep appreciation, the high-est level of gratitude for the abundance of phone calls, messages, cards, and acts of love and kindness that each of you have provided in the wake of the passing of our Beloved. Your service, labor of love, and compassion shall never be forgotten. May God richly bless each of you for the manner in which you have shown love toward us!
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." - Revelation 21:4 KJV
Guest Book
We deeply appreciate each of you for your prayers, kind words, and acts of hospitality during our time of loss. Your support has been a source of great comfort and strength for us. Whether you offered a shoulder to lean on, prepared a meal, or simply kept us in your thoughts, please know that your compassion has touched our hearts profoundly. In moments like these, we are reminded of the true value of community and the enduring power of love and friendship. Thank you for being there for us during this difficult time.