From the first day, Paulk was committed to opening the doors of his church to all people, regardless of racial or economic background. Not surprisingly, given his opposition to segregation, he was one of the first white pastors to open the doors of his church to blacks. This stance wasn't popular even with some members of his own church; when the first blacks set foot in the church in the early 1960s, several whites walked out in protest. In response, one of the whites who remained, Ida Williams, gave a fifteen minute sermon in which she said, "It is not the will of God that we should have prejudice." Until the end of the church's heyday, the church had a fairly large black membership for a church led by a white pastor. In later years, Paulk became one of the few mainstream Pentecostal/charismatic leaders to welcome openly gay and lesbian members.