In 1977, Tyler-Guidry attended the Los Angeles Bible School to pursue the path of ministry, and was ordained as an itinerant Elder that year. Tyler-Guidry then served as the pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Indio, California, where she oversaw renovations to the church and parsonage, and the creation of a day care center. In 1983, she was appointed to the Cain Memorial A.M.E. Church in Bakersfield, California, where she served for five years. Cary B. Tyler, her first husband, died in 1988.
