The History of Love Christian Center
Willie B. Royster, Founder and Pastor

Reaching the community and doing the work of an evangelist has been the commission of Love Christian Center in Suffolk, Virginia before there was ever a church building. Finding its roots in neighborhood outreach, Pastor Willie Royster established GLO, an acronym for Greater Love Outreach, Inc. This ministry served as the umbrella that gave birth to Love Christian Center on July 9, 1995. After an organized effort to compel others to know the Lord Jesus Christ, new souls were added to the kingdom to create a church with the needs of the community at its heart.

Feeding and clothing residents of Suffolk, Virginia has been a legacy of Love Christian Center since its inception. A continued effort to serve the City of Suffolk is the vision of the ministry. Several outreach ministries have formed due to the vision of Pastor Willie Royster.

Finding that literacy was a challenge for many of the people who crossed the threshold of Love Christian Center, the membership began an After-school Reading Program and an adult-literacy program known as “Read to Succeed” starting in the fall of 1996. In these programs, some volunteers began to work with school-aged children to bring their reading scores up to par. While other volunteers worked with adults who needed help with reading skills. The success of the After-school Reading Program and Read to Succeed were noted by members of the community. This opened the door for the project to receive funding from the Beasley Foundation and Virginia Literacy Foundation for material and supplies.

The need to help children has extended to other areas as well. To maintain the movement of technology in education, a computer-based reading program was introduced to the students. This enabled each child to gain literacy enrichment along with technology training.
As the efforts continued to serve children, another area of need began to arise as the drop-out rate accelerated in Suffolk Public Schools. This led to the formation a GED preparation program. Students were encouraged to use the computer software to get themselves ready to take the test. In addition, the participants were mentored and taught about self-esteem. Success from this program was through the efforts of volunteers from Love Christian Center.
As the church began to thrive, there was still yet another portion of society’s population that needed help in the struggle. In the summer of 2000, Love Christian Center began a prison ministry that offered hope to inmates, as well as the men and women who were transitioning out of prison. The goal of this outreach ministry is to begin the development of transitional housing for ex-offenders through a program entitled, “Joseph’s Place”.

Love Christian Center continues to be a lighthouse in the City of Suffolk. The determination to persevere beyond obstacles has given the church a track record of integrity and determination. For nearly a decade, Pastor Willie Royster and the family of Love Christian Center have truly shown love to all mankind and that has made all the difference.