Mother Lula Lightey Phillips was born in Centerville, Alabama in 1864. She spent her early life in Birmingham, AL., where she attended the Good Hope Baptist Church. She later joined the Triumph the Church & Kingdom of God in Christ. She started her first mission under the Triumph umbrella in 1910 at the age of 46 in Avondale, AL., on Second Ave. It was in 1915 that she felt the call of God to move to the state of West Virginia (Mount Hope). By 1917, she had established three churches under the Triumph umbrella. In the year of 1919, Mother Lula Phillips traveled to Indianapolis, IN., for the First International Congress of the Triumph Church. It was there in Indianapolis where she first heard the Jesus name message preached by the honorable, Bishop G.T. Haywood (1st Presiding Bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc.)

In 1920, the death of Father E.D. Smith (Founder of Triumph the Church) shook the Saints of The Triumph Body which lead to the establishment of the Glorious Church of God In Christ in 1921. Although Mother Phillips never served as Presider, there were no Bishops during her tenure. She's known and respected as the Founder/Pastor of the Headquarter (Mother) Church in Huntington, WV.