Joliet woman’s faith experiences featured on Lifetime show ‘Preachers’ Daughters’

JOLIET – Thank you, Jesus!

People often say those words in response to prayers positively answered. These also were the first words spoken by Taylor Coleman, 19, of Joliet, a star of the Lifetime docusoap “Preachers’ Daughters” show, when she was just a toddler.

It was in response to a fresh diaper.

“We were totally stunned,” said Taylor’s father Kenneth Coleman, pastor of City of Refuge Pentecostal church in Lockport.

But praising the Lord wasn’t the first thought on Kenneth’s mind two years ago when the then 17-year-old Taylor answered a Craigslist ad for an acting job and was offered a spot on the new show.

“I thought it was a scam,” Kenneth recalled, to which Taylor had replied, “Well, Daddy, they want to talk to you, too.” Kenneth agreed and Taylor continued, “They want to Skype you.” And Kenneth said, “Even better.”

Taylor, who’s loved the challenge of portraying other people since she was very young, was thrilled at the chance to show the world that dwelling in the fishbowl of life as a preacher’s daughter had nothing to do with one of two stereotypes.

“People either thought I was a goody-two-shoes or I was very bad,” Taylor said. “I remember in junior high, they used to call me ‘the little church girl’ and that I probably didn’t know how to have fun. … Everyone except my two best friends put me into a little box.”

But Kenneth was less enthusiastic about film crews hanging about the house from dawn to dusk and recording everything except bathroom breaks. More than once, he asked Taylor if she was sure about taking part.

Once filming began in October 2012, that bathroom became Kenneth’s refuge “just to catch my breath,” as cameramen stayed until nearly midnight and then returned by 7 a.m. to set up again. Taylor said she often did her homework at 3 a.m., even though she had to catch a bus at 6 a.m. for classes at Joliet Central High School.

But as the show progressed, episodes addressed more than Taylor’s social life in and out of the church or that her mother, Marie, also is a preacher.

“Preachers’ Daughters” also addressed her faith and that had nothing to do with her father’s humorous Bible stories and her church experiences while growing up: attending two services on Sundays, Bible study, singing on the worship team, family prayer and Taylor’s relatively mild high school rebellion.

“Now don’t get me wrong,” Taylor said. “I love church, but I did not want to be there every day. I wanted to go to the movies, to the mall and to parties, but my parents said parties were bad.”

Nevertheless, Taylor found as she distanced herself from church attendance, her relationship with God suffered, too.

“He was like a boyfriend I’d only talk to here and there: ‘Hey, how are things?’ and then I’d go and do what I wanted to do,’” Taylor said. “I knew I should talk to God, so I prayed at bedtime and in church but that was about it.”

Two incidents helped renew that faith. One was receiving “rude and judgmental” comments on social media sites from people professing to be devout Christians. The other was when her father, who receives dialysis treatment several times a week for kidney failure, missed her high school graduation because he had just come off life support.

Ironically, shortly before Kenneth’s lungs filled with fluid and threatened his life, Kenneth had vowed he’d “have to be dead” to miss that milestone in Taylor’s life. Kenneth woke up the day before the big event, but his doctor would not release him from the hospital, Taylor said.

“I came to see him in my cap and gown,” Taylor said. “I brought him a laptop so he could watch the ceremony online.”

Although Kenneth has witnessed plenty of healing at his church for other people, Kenneth’s persistent illness has not embittered him.

“It’s just made me more determined to serve the Lord and not abandon my faith,” Kenneth said. “We all have challenging days. I just look at it as an opportunity to share the Gospel.”

That’s why, ultimately, Kenneth consented to “Preachers’ Daughters.” And although Taylor has given many media interviews and inspirational talks to scores of young people, and her songwriting has morphed from pop to contemporary Christian, it’s letters from fans that say, “I want to be like you” that tells Kenneth he made the right call.

“Taylor never bucked for popularity,” Kenneth said. “She was the one talking to the new kid in the neighborhood, helping the ones that were overlooked and being friends with the kids who were outcast. That’s what it means to be a Christian.”