Bishop Lacy Sykes

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"The one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." Romans 12:8

Bishop Lacy Sykes, Jr., is the founding Pastor of Cross Word Christian Church in Riverside, California. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he created the church motto “remember the Cross…focus on the Word”. To date, God has blessed Cross Word Church with a growing church membership of over 4,600 with over 40 active ministries.

Bishop Lacy is a very proactive Pastor and strongly believes everything rises and falls on leadership. He continues to voice concerns about the plight of minorities in the Moreno Valley and Riverside communities – economically and academically. He is an advocate for education and encourages young and old to discover their purpose and pursue it with determination.

He was inspired to structure Cross Word Church to be a multi-ethnic, multi-denominational, multi-generational church connected through one culture: a Christian culture. He focuses on teaching God’s people how to live a godly life on this side of heaven. This is accomplished by giving practical examples and simple applications. This teaching includes instruction on how the Bible is relevant even in today’s society.

Bishop Lacy has been guest speaker at numerous men’s conferences and events across the nation and locally, including Decently and In Order Ministries, and other venues throughout the United States, Sierra Leone and Ghana, West Africa. He is the recipient of numerous community awards, including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Dr. Marvin L. Brown Christian Service Award, Riverside NAACP Religious Award, Special Congressional Recognition by Mary Bono Mack, Support Services to Path of Life Ministries, Chaplain for Riverside County Sheriff's Department, and Co-sponsor for UnityFest with Breakthrough Church, Pacesetters Award by the Riverside African American Historical Society, supporter and participant in the Inland Empire Million Father March on September 8, 2012 sponsored by Street Positive. His most recent award comes from the Richard T. Fields Bar Association for Community Service of the Year. Bishop Lacy is founder of Family and Community Empowerment (F.A.C.E.) Community Development Corporation, publisher of Valley Life Today Magazine. He was also a participant in the Proclamation of Dedication for the City of Riverside on May 10, 2003 and his signature is on the original document with several other Riverside pastors. Bishop Sykes has been a member of Vistage, an executive coaching and peer advisory organization, since 2007.  He is passionate about serving God’s greatest creation.

In June 2000, he was ordained at Second Baptist Church in Maywood, Illinois, and prior to that obtained education for ministry at Bethany Baptist Bible College in Los Angeles and Golden Gate Theological Seminary in Brea.

He and his wife, Karen, have been married 27 years. They have five adult children and one grandson.