BISHOP JAMES HOWARD MIMS
1932-2006
He sold heroin to an undercover cop, and his true destiny appeared from a prison cell.
HOUSEHOLD OF GOD BIBLEWAY CHURCH
3315 MAGNOLIA AVENUE, LYNWOOD, CALIFORNIA 90262
Bishop James Howard Mims, Founder, Overseer, Spirit in Charge!
Rev Curtis Daily, Pastor, 2006-Current
About James Howard Mims
Rev Calvin Mims, Mrs. Ann Kirby Mims and standing, Bishop James Howard Mims.
These men and woman of God are descendents of Samuel Mims, 1680's,
a white slave owner of Fort Mims, Alabama, who had a son by the name of Gib Mims who married an african american woman. Bishops Great Grandfather was Rev. Will Henry Mims; and his mom and dad were Rev. Calvin and Ann Kirby Mims; founding members/builders of Castalia Missionary Baptist Church of Memphis, Tennessee.
The late Bishop James Howard Mims, proved to be a giant in the Los Angeles and Compton communities as a Community Leader, Activist, Counselor, Lover and Protector of the People, and founder of The Household of God Bibleway Church in Lynwood, California.
Bishop Mims was married to Bertha Mae Johnson Mims, the first black model for John Robert Powers Modeling Agency, located on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Bertha Mae modeled furs for Actor John Wayne and others at the original Biltmore Hotel and Bullocks Wilshire.
From the 1680's to current, all first born Mims were Ministers of the Christian Gospel including Eleazar Mims and Eli Mims and Bishops daughter, Dr Marcia Ann Mims Coppertino. From forming the Bright Future Corporation; the Try Foundation and crusading across America after founding the Christ Unlimited Crusades; Bishop Mims marched with Dr King alongside his father in the 1960's and was was a trailblazer for good! Marcia has taken up the mantle following in his footsteps to help keep his dream alive of sharing a message of love to envelope the world..with a peace and goodwill message that will never die!
James Howard Mims at the age of 16, on his way to Tennessee State University by his father's demands! Since lawyers and Doctors flanked the Mims line of those that came before James, his father wanted the legacy continued. James ran away and forsook his father's desire for him to become a lawyer, and joined the United States Air Force. He said he always wanted to and dreamed of becoming a Pilot, but fate dealt a hand that only God could have intervened with! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE YOUR DESTINY....unless you be born again!
Standing center in front of the engagement cake, is James Howard Mims and his bride to be, Bertha Mae Johnson, at their 1951 engagement party, Memphis, Tennessee. James was proud to be in his Air Force uniform for the work ahead!
After Bishops marriage and the refusal of Bishop to enter into the Christian ministry, his father Calvin put him and his new wife on a Greyhound bus with a one ticket to Watts, Los Angeles, California.
Afte many ups and downs as a young couple far from home, one instance of their married plight was when Bertha Mae caught him dancing in a nightclub after she sent him to get 2 candy bars as pregnant woman craving chocolate. Bertha Mae pulled out a knife and chased him out of the dance hall all the way back to the apartment they shared. The leather jacket was cut into shreds by the time they made it home and falling apart on the living room floor! Oh wow!
Restless in Watts...sad, sick and sorry so far from Memphis, Bishop started running with the wrong crowd, and ended up with criminal conviction of 25 years to life for selling heroin to an undercover cop. After spending 7 years in prison, Bishop said he fell down on his knees and begged any god to hear him and within days...in the wee hours of the night, he was released to his family of Marcia Ann, Calvin Mims Jr and Dana Sue. No more being kicked down prison stairs with a mop and pail of dirty water, Bishop stayed at home for less than a month...and after telling Bertha Mae she would have to become a preacher's wife, which she refused, he left his family to work with local ministers and to form THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD BIBLEWAY CHURCH on Willowbrook and El Segundo in Compton. While on probation/parole, he worked for the late Doris Day, her husband M. Melcher and other famous stars including an heiress to a grocery store chain still in great operations today. She assisted Bishop in building his church roots, burning the church mortgage and representing with him to the right people at the right time and for the right reasons. The title of BISHOP was bestowed upon him and the rest became history of a man redeemed to walk in the steps of family ministers before him.
As of January 2020, his eldest daughter known as "LuLu", and Marcia Ann made the decision to throw in the towel and head full time back into the Christian ministry; in a time where vicious and treachery reign on every hand; and where betrayal and false friends abound in rocket numbers. As a former member of Jehovah's Witnesses for 30 years, LuLu says there is no better place to be in his service when serving a living God, who calls himself JEHOVAH at Psalms 83:18. Bertha Mae has a website (www.berthamae.org) and welcomes visitors!
