When her ministry first began, Grace Tucker was a part of the
Church of God in Christ. She actively served in ministry and functioned as leader in her local church – Church of God in Christ Number 1. At the time that she realized she was called to minister, the Church of God in Christ did not allow women to be ordained. She eventually had to make a break from the
Church of God in Christ in order to pursue her calling to the ministry. She founded a home church, and eventually built a small church in
Okmulgee, Oklahoma. She is believed to be the first woman to pastor an independent church in
Oklahoma. Because she operated a thrift store near downtown
Tulsa, she would frequently encounter homeless people who were in need of basic clothing, food and shelter. She purchased a building in 1981 at 739 N. Main street in
Tulsa,
Oklahoma which would double as a church building and shelter for
Tulsa's most needy citizens. She dubbed it the "Rescue Home". After receiving a $40,000 donation in 1986, she was able to purchase a former country club on
Tulsa's west side that was to become a multipurpose facility. She had plans to feed the hungry, start a Christian school for low-income families and hold church services there. After only a few months, the building was destroyed by a fire. She continued to house the homeless and feed the poor while pastoring her congregation throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Police would often send vagrants to her ministry rather than arrest them for vagrancy. Mother Grace Tucker revolutionized the way the homeless were cared for in the city of
Tulsa. She put no restrictions on residents of her Rescue Mission with regard to inebriation or time limits. She housed and fed anyone that was in need of her help. After her nightly church services, she would host what she named, "The Mercy Meal". It is estimated that she provided more than 500,000 meals to
Tulsa's poor. Her husband and father to her 16 children, VeOtis Roosevelt Tucker Sr. died in 1988 at the age of 81. Mother Tucker Ministries, a not for profit umbrella organization, was established in the early 1990s to address the needs of the economically disadvantaged in the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is managed by her children and is still in operation today. == Awards and honors ==