Pastor Meddie Pauline Manigault Bannister was born in or near Orangeburg County in South Carolina in 1900 and eventually migrated to Miami, Florida, where she and husband Edward were one of the first to purchase land off NW 74th Street and 17th Avenue near Liberty City.

She received her Full Ministers License on Friday May 28, 1943, and in 1960 made history by becoming the first woman of color to lead a South Florida/Miami congregation of the Church of God of Prophecy (Liberty City) which was founded in 1886 in Cherokee County North Carolina and formerly organized in 1903 by Minister Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson. The church currently (2018) serves over 1.5 million members in over 10,000 churches and 135 nations around the world.

Pastor Bannister was also an entrepreneur who operated the neighborhood's candy house and recycled paper and cardboard long before those programs were adopted by municipalities around the United States. She has influenced others, myself included, to pursue entrepreneurship and is now included in the QCT Miami Black Heritage Tour.

She and Edward had 9 children.

Pastor Meddie Pauline Manigault Bannister was born in or near Orangeburg County in South Carolina in 1900 and eventually migrated to Miami, Florida, where she and husband Edward were one of the first to purchase land off NW 74th Street and 17th Avenue near Liberty City.

She received her Full Ministers License on Friday May 28, 1943, and in 1960 made history by becoming the first woman of color to lead a South Florida/Miami congregation of the Church of God of Prophecy (Liberty City) which was founded in 1886 in Cherokee County North Carolina and formerly organized in 1903 by Minister Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson. The church currently (2018) serves over 1.5 million members in over 10,000 churches and 135 nations around the world.

Pastor Bannister was also an entrepreneur who operated the neighborhood's candy house and recycled paper and cardboard long before those programs were adopted by municipalities around the United States. She has influenced others, myself included, to pursue entrepreneurship and is now included in the QCT Miami Black Heritage Tour.

She and Edward had 9 children.