When she died in 1945, she had laid an impressive foundation for the women's ministry in COGIC. In her brief tenure, she encouraged the women to stay focused and supportive to the leadership of the church. Bishop Blake led the COGIC to become a greater global ministry, primarily in Africa and Latin America, while at the same time investing in the inner cities where many COGIC congregations are located. [49] The church does not practice infant baptisms or christenings, but does conduct baby dedications in formal ceremonies. Bishop Blake was the pastor of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ,[7] one of the largest African-American churches in the Western United States, with a membership of over 24,000, from 1969 until his retirement in 2022. It believes that the gifts of the Spirit are given to believers and are active in the church today. After graduating from high school, he matriculated to Wayne State University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in education and a Master of Education degree in mathematics. The first Sunday School Superintendent was Professor L. W. Lee (19081916). (19721994). He was denied such trial in 2016. Welcome to the Official Church Of God In Christ, Inc Online Store Dismiss. [27], Several bishops disagreed with the new organizational structure; they severed ties with COGIC to start their own organizations. Bishop Blake led COGIC through the death of G. E. Patterson while preparing the church for its 100th Holy Convocation; an important milestone for the church. During his visit, Mason received the baptism of the Holy Ghost; the evidence was believed to be his "speaking in other tongues", in accordance with the biblical account found in the book of Acts 2:4. Patterson Sr., the five major departments of COGIC were united under an umbrella convention known as UNAC-5 (United National Auxiliary Convention). She established new auxiliaries including the International Hospitality Unit, the Educational and Bishop's Wives Scholarship funds, WE-12 and Lavender Ladies. She began women's work on the state level and appointed the first state mothers. In 2000 at the Ninety-Third International Holy Convocation, the COGIC General Assembly elected Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson to replace Owens as Presiding Bishop. As the first elected presiding bishop, Bishop Patterson Sr. established the Charles Harrison Mason Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. [2][3] On March 21, 2007, he became the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., as a result of Presiding Bishop Gilbert E. Patterson's death. The first convention was held in Los Angeles, California, in 1951. Research Center at Boston University, the Greenlining Institutes Big Heart Award, a Trumpet Award, and the Urban Leagues Whitney M. Young award, among many others. In 1951, the first separate National Sunday School Convention convened in Kansas City, Missouri. Mother Lillian Coffey appointed Mother Reatha Herndon as president of the National Women's Evangelist Board in 1951. On April 24, 2022, while addressing his local congregation at the West Angeles COGIC for their sunday morning service, he announced that he has been dealing with and coping with Parkinson's disease, "for the past ten years", and that as of April 2022, he was going to be retiring as the senior pastor of West Angeles COGIC, and that his two sons who are also COGIC elders and ministers, Reverends Charles, Jr. and Lawrence Blake, would be taking over as the de facto pastor and assistant pastor of the West Angeles congregation, respectively. Bishop Elijah Hankerson III - Board member (2021present), Bishop Charles E. Blake Presiding Bishop Emeritus. William B. Holt was appointed as General Superintendent. He became nationally recognized in 1955 for officiating at the funeral of 15-year-old Emmett Till, who was brutally murdered in Mississippi. "[91] Bishop Blake apologized to a young man (Andrew C. Caldwell) who, following Superintendent Carter's message, came forward to proclaim that he had been delivered from homosexuality. Adelle M. Banks. There are more than 200 ecclesiastical jurisdictions around the world, with 170 in the United States. He was a lifelong member of the. She served as chairperson of the board of supervisors, member, Executive Board, member, Screening Committee, member, Program Committee General Church, coordinator, Leadership Conference, International Marshall, secretary, and Assistant General Supervisor for the Department of Women. All officers are elected by the General Assembly. It was also around this time, that he married his wife, Mae Lawrence Blake, a native of Michigan and daughter of another COGIC bishop and pastor, and they had three children together, Charles Blake, Jr., Lawrence "Larry" Blake, and Kimberly Blake. The current Presiding Bishop is Bishop John Drew Sheard Sr., who is the Senior Pastor of the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ of Detroit, Michigan. Young, James Brewer, Daniel Spearman, and J. H. Boone. Together they traveled across the country proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jones was acquainted with Seymour between 1895 and 1905, as Seymour's travels led him to many Holiness preachers such as John G. Lake and Martin Wells Knapp. From 1985 to 2009, he maintained the position of Prelate for the First Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of California, where he was responsible for overseeing over 250 . COGIC teaches that the Holy Spirit is alive and active in the world. [9] This Holiness group/fellowship adopted the name Church of God in Christ, and COGIC began to develop congregations throughout the South. The church believes that women are gifted and called to ministry; it does not, however, officially ordain women to the office of elder, pastor, or bishop. A local church mother since the age of 21, she was committed to strengthening the auxiliaries in the local churches and to prepare the younger women to carry the mission of COGIC into the Twenty-first Century. He was recognized in Washington, D. C. by President Barack Obama in 2009 and invited to serve on the White House Advisory, Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. In 1924, the Sunday School was formally organized under "Father" F. C. Christmas (19161944). As African Americans migrated north and west to industrial cities during the Great Migration, he began to establish COGIC churches in the north and, especially after 1940, in the west. [10] After testifying to being sanctified, members of the church referred to themselves as "Saints", believing that they were set apart to live a daily life of Christian Holiness in words and deeds.[11]. As the International Holy Convocation grew to thousands, COGIC leaders had to negotiate with city officials to provide hotel accommodations for the saints. [25], Bishop Ozro Thurston Jones Sr. was pastor of the Holy Temple Church of God in Christ in Philadelphia and the Jurisdictional Bishop of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Jurisdiction. [48] COGIC clergy are also encouraged to have a certain degree of training in marriage counseling as well. By. He referred in his sermon to gay men as "sissies", "perverted and lost", and said, "If you want to feel like a girl; I wish God would give you the monthly of a girl; I wish He had you bleeding out of your butt. The presiding bishop chairs the biennial Church-wide Assembly and provides for the preparation of agendas for the assembly, the Church Council and its executive . The general assembly meets biannually each year in April and November while the presidium acts as the executive branch of the church, overseeing the day-to-day operation when the general assembly is not in session. The international membership of COGIC is estimated be between one and three million adherents. His sons Reverend Charles Blake, Jr. and Reverend Lawrence Blake were officially appointed as the senior pastor and assistant pastor of the church in October of 2022.[13]. He re-ignited the church to be a flagship Pentecostal denomination. Furthermore, the new constitution created the office of the presiding bishop and a general board of twelve bishops and defined their responsibilities. Recognizing the significance of women to the ministry, COGIC has created numerous positions that allow women to work as counterparts to the department presidents as chair ladies (YPWW) and Elect ladies (Evangelism). The pair modeled the pastor and wife ministry team in COGIC. Owens and became known as AIM (Auxiliaries in Ministry). As a result, an ongoing dispute between Elder Carter and Bishop Blake continued without resolution. Elect Lady, International Department of Missions Mother Maddaline Norfleet. Bishop Sheard has over 30 years of leadership in the Church of God in Christ. Mother Dorothy Exume#, foreign missionary, Evangelist Reatha D. Herndon#, first and longest-serving elect Lady, church organizer, national evangelist, Supervisor Deola Wells Johnson, national evangelist, jurisdictional supervisor, Evangelist Maria Gardner Langston, COGIC pastor, national evangelist, former Elect Lady, Mother Elsie Washington Mason#, third and final wife of Bishop Mason, Mother Lelia Washington Mason#, second wife of Bishop Mason. As a classical Holiness Pentecostal denomination,[2][4] COGIC continues to embrace its holiness heritage, teaching modesty in dress, appearance, moderate participation in secular entertainment and prohibitions against profanity, alcohol, substance abuse and immoral behavior. A visionary, she spearheaded the establishment of the multi-million dollar Hale Morris Lewis Manor, a senior citizen complex in Los Angeles, CA. Since so many new holiness groups and fellowships were forming that used the name "Church of God," C. H. Mason sought a name to distinguish his Holiness group from others. Vice President of COGIC World Missions-Bishop Glenn Plummer. At the 1907 COGIC Convocation held in Jackson, a separation occurred among Jones and other leaders in the church because of such disagreements. In 1895, C.P. Jones and C.H. Mason were licensed Baptist ministers in Mississippi who began teaching and preaching a Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection or entire sanctification as a second work of grace to their Baptist congregations. Dr. Roy L.H. A. The racial climate in the post WWI years, when there was high competition for jobs and housing and violent unrest in many cities in 1919, would not sustain this relationship. COGIC believes "that if such a case arises, the mother should pray and seek the wisdom and guidance of God and the Holy Spirit on whether or not they should resort to emergency abortion if it is necessary to save her life," but if not, the Church traditionally encourages expecting mothers to "seek God's guidance for other options and choices regarding their unborn child so that they do not have to choose aborting it, and can safely go through with their pregnancy until childbirth. She is the longest serving president of the International Music Department and her influence and legacy have been indelible and are recognized around the world. In the 1990's and early 2000's, Blake also penned articles for Ebony and Christianity Today noting the importance of the Black Church's influence on presidential elections and American politics and society in general. G iving to the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) fell by nearly 50 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. The general assembly elects a 12-person general board (presidium) every four years from the college of bishops, who serve functionally as apostles of the church. COGIC teaches that according to the Word of God, there will be final events and conditions that address the end of this present age of the world. Remarriage is usually highly discouraged, except in the case of the death of a spouse or former spouse. He was succeeded by Bishop Joe L. Ealy. COGIC became a major force in the collective Black Church and worldwide Pentecostal movement. Mother Willie Mae Rivers served faithfully for 20 years as General Mother until 2017 and the age of 91. [12] Mason stayed in Los Angeles for five weeks and his visit to the Azusa Street Revival changed the direction of the newly formed holiness church. Many Holiness Christian groups and fellowships forming at the time wanted biblical names for their local churches and fellowships, such as "Church of God, Church of Christ, or Church of the Living God". The current president of the Missions Department is Bishop Vincent Mathews Jr. of South Africa. He consecrated and appointed more than 100 bishops during his twenty-one years of leadership. He was a speaker at the Democratic National Conventions first Ecumenical Service where he eloquently, challenged all to protect the unborn by advocating pro-life. Bishop Blake is married to Mae Lawrence Blake, a native of Michigan, and they have three children together, Charles Blake II (Jr.), Lawrence Blake, and Kimberly Blake, and they have eight grandchildren.[6]. The result of sin is the depravity of man, broken communion with God, shame and guilt, and physical and spiritual death. Drew Sheard who was elected in 2021. [58], Her successor, Lillian Brooks Coffey (19451964) was the organizer of the Women's International Convention to support the work of foreign missionaries. World headquarters are in Memphis, Tennessee at Mason Temple. Their pastor was then elder Gilbert Earl Patterson, who also became a COGIC Presiding Bishop, at Holy Temple COGIC in Memphis, Tennessee. The church has more than 3,000 churches in Asia, and 2,000 churches in the Caribbean and South America. Bishop Mason was pivotal in licensing and credentialing both white and African-American ministers, who spread the Pentecostal message and planted new churches. He has also been awarded the Salvation Army's William Booth Award, the Greenlining Institute's Big Heart Award, and was the designated recipient of the L.A. Urban League's Whitney M. Young Award for the year 2000. General Treasurer Bishop Charles Harrison Mason Patterson Sr.. Financial Secretary Bishop Frank A. He appointed regional presidents to serve as liaisons to the jurisdictional presidents. Chairman of the National Board of Trustees Bishop Dwight E. Walls Sr.. First Vice Chairman of the National Board of Trustees Superintendent Melton Timmons. Drew Sheard is a former public-school teacher. Among those who died after reportedly contracting the virus were: First Assistant Presiding Bishop Phillip A. Brooks, a preacher, and leader from Detroit who was No. In 2014, at the COGIC International Holy Convocation held in St. Louis, Missouri, COGIC minister Elder Earl Carter was selected by the General Board to be the keynote speaker for Saturday night. Then in 1946, the YPWW Department was combined with the Sunday School Department for joint conventions until 1951 when they were separated once again. After graduating from high school, he matriculated to Wayne State. On February 21, 1965, when Malcolm X was assassinated and the family needed a place for his funeral, no major black church or facility would open their doors for the service. COGIC Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake issued a public apology, saying "I apologize for what seemed to be a harsh, uncompassionate, disrespectful spirit on the part of that speaker. [4] He was reelected to a third term as Presiding Bishop on November 15, 2016. Youth on a Mission (YOAM) a ministry of young people visiting the mission field to serve each summer. Bishop J.W. COGIC became a staple of gospel music under the guidance and leadership of Dr. Mattie Moss Clark. Bishop Brandon B. Porter Secretary to the General Board (2021present) and board member (2012present). Mason. A.) He was elected four times uncontested as presiding bishop. Churches are organized in dioceses called jurisdictions, each under the authority of a bishop. [5] Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly African-American membership based within the United States. Battles served as president until his death in December 1996. [27], Bishop James Oglethorpe Patterson Sr. was elected in November 1968 as the first presiding bishop of the church by the General Assembly at the Sixty-First Holy Convocation of the church. Adjutant General Bishop Dickerson L. S. Wells Sr.. General Supervisor, Department of Women Mother Barbara McCoo Lewis. By 1906, the church had grown to nearly 100 congregations in three states. The church's new presiding bishop, who took office on March 20, said he will have to. As public education was segregated and underfunded by white officials in the South through most of the tenure of the first major leader, this school became a destination for parents wanting their children to have high-quality education. In Chicago, Ford organized voter registration initiatives. Gilbert. Bishop Charles H. McClelland Board member (2021present). The son-in-law of Bishop Mason, J. O. Patterson Sr., had served the church previously as a member of the executive board and as executive secretary. In 1988, after a thirteen-year exodus from COGIC, Bishop G. E. Patterson returned as the founding Prelate of the newly formed Tennessee Fourth Jurisdiction. Mrs. Anna Broy Crockett Ford was the first organizer and director of the National Music Department, which was formally established in November 1949. The COGIC constitution at the time did not identify a clear successor or the authority of the executive board after Mason's death. He is credited with systematically restructuring church departments and ministries, expanding the church in Asia, primarily India and the Philippines, and placing the COGIC on a solid financial status. The former Detroit-based math teacher was elected as the new presiding bishop over the largest Pentecostal denomination in the country in March. In 1927, the call was made for workers to go to serve the Lord in foreign lands. Bishop Michael E. Hill Assistant Secretary to the General Board (2021present) and board member (2021present). In 1982 he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in . Bishop David A. The early pioneers of this newly formed Holiness-Pentecostal body in 1907 were E. R. Driver, J. Bowe, R. R. Booker, R. E. Hart, W. Welsh, A. COGIC theology and beliefs fall in the tradition of Wesleyan-Arminian theology.[40]. He was the founding Chair of the Board of Directors for,[10] and has served as a board member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, for the Interdenominational Theological Seminary. Chairman of the National Judiciary Board Bishop Martin Luther Johnson. They have three children and eight grandchildren. Winbush was selected to serve as the first chairman. COGIC clergy do not officially sanction or recognize same-sex relationships to be united in marriage and the denomination at-large discourages same-sex relationships as unbiblical and immoral. Other leaders of the Youth Department who leader became influential leaders of the church included: Bishop F.D. They exist primarily in the spiritual realm and are organized according to duty and function. COGIC teaches that because God uses conception through and after sexual reproduction and intercourse to create human life, that willfully aborting a human fetus is contrary to God's Word and Christian ethics, and it is considered to be a sin against God and the Bible within the denomination. Mother Willie Mae Rivers (19972017) of Goose Creek, South Carolina, succeeded Mother Crouch. COGIC teaches the deity of Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, sinless life, physical death, burial, resurrection, ascension and visible return to the earth. His dream was to establish an international ministry complex known as "Saints Center" and an accredited institution known as "All Saints University". As COGIC continued to grow, the various departments began the practice of convening annually to conduct the business unique of their ministries. The current chairman of AIM is Bishop Linwood E. Dillard of Memphis, TN.[62]. He testified to receiving entire sanctification after reading her autobiography in 1893. A. Jeter was selected as Overseer of Arkansas. During the tenure of Bishop G.E. In April 2018, Bishop Blake led COGIC in partnership with American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis to continue to struggle for civil rights in the 21st Century. [19], Mason continued to travel across the nation preaching and establishing COGIC churches. President, International Department of Missions Bishop Vincent Matthews Jr.. The most active women's auxiliaries include: Missionary Circle, Hospitality, Executive Hospitality, Hulda Club, Wide Awake Band, Minister's Wives Circle, Deaconess, Deacon's Wives Circle, Prayer Warriors, Young Women's Christian Council, Usher Board, Educational Committee, Boy's League, Big Brothers, Cradle Roll, Women's Chorus, Board of Examiners, Public Relations, News Reporters and the Burners Home and Foreign Mission Bands. Superintendent, International Sunday School Department Superintendent Mark Ellis. In 1918, COGIC opened its first institution of higher learning, the Saints Industrial and Literary School in Lexington, Mississippi, for both girls and boys. They rejected denominational names such as Baptist, Methodist, or Episcopal. Finding two groups of women in the church, one group praying known as the Prayer Band, the other group studying and teaching the Word known as the Bible Band, she combined the two under the name of the Prayer and Bible Band. In 1982, Patterson led COGIC in its Diamond Jubilee, in a celebration of the International Holy Convocation. Jesse Jackson was invited to speak during the COGIC International Holy Convocation when he was running for the presidency. Presiding Bishop J. Charles Edward Blake Sr. (born August 5, 1940) is an American minister and pastor who served as the Presiding Bishop and leader of the Church of God in Christ, a 6 million-member Holiness Pentecostal denomination, that has now grown to become one of the largest predominantly African American Pentecostal denominations in the United States, from 2007 to 2021. He was pastor of the Pentecostal Temple Institutional COGIC in Memphis, Tennessee, and was the Presiding Prelate of the Tennessee Headquarters Jurisdiction. We believe that the redemptive work of Christ on the Cross provides healing for the human body in answer to believing prayer. After the death of Mother McGlothen, Mother Emma F. Crouch (19941997) of Dallas, Texas, served as the fifth General Supervisor. On October 23, 2020, Bishop Blake announced that he will not seek a re-election as Presiding Bishop nor as a member of the General Board and that he would retire from the Office of Presiding Bishop and from the General Board in 2021.[34]. YPWW became a distinctive trademark for COGIC and the principle training institute usually meeting on Sunday night prior to evening worship services. They disagreed in having an electoral process to select the presiding bishop.[28]. [60] Units added during her tenure as general supervisor were the: business and Professional Women's Federation, Rescue Squad, Sunday School Representatives Unit, United Sisters of Charity, National Secretaries Unit, and the Jr. Missionaries. Assistant Financial Secretary Bishop David A. Sanders. Herndon and her twin sister Leatha were pioneers of the evangelistic work of the Church of God in Christ. In 1917, the YPWW was officially organized under the leadership of Elder Ozro Thurston Jones Sr., who in 1928 established the first Youth Congress bringing together youth leaders and workers on a national level. There was the creation of the Sunday School Field Representative. The international headquarters is in Memphis, Tennessee. Supervisor Irene Oakley#, pastor, supervisor, bishop's wife, Mother Louise Patterson, evangelist, former first lady and wife of G.E. The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is the chief ecumenical officer of the church, and the leader and caretaker for the bishops of the synods. Secretary of the General Council of Pastors and Elders Superintendent Prince W. Bryant, II. [8][9] In 1984, after the death of his father, he was ordained and consecrated as a jurisdictional bishop of the First Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of Southern California for the COGIC denomination, and remained in that position until 2009 when he stepped down from the position to dedicate himself fully to the duties of the Office of the Presiding Bishop. Bishop Jones was the only living bishop of the five original bishops consecrated by Bishop Mason. [43], COGIC teaches that man was created perfect and sinless in the image of God as a tripartite being having a body, soul, and spirit. The Church of God in Christ was formed in 1897 by a group of disfellowshipped Baptists, most notably Charles Price Jones (18651949) and Charles Harrison Mason (18641961). In 1968, Two sanitation workers who were also COGIC members, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death in a garbage compactor where they were taking shelter from the rain. The designated church mother along with other "older and seasoned" women of the church provided the practical teaching of holiness in daily life and practice. On the local church level in addition to the office of missionary, COGIC developed and has maintained the position of the "church mother." [citation needed] Bishop Ford is credited with inviting President Bill Clinton, a personal friend, to speak to the Eighty-Sixth International Holy Convocation on November 13, 1993. On April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I've Been To The Mountaintop" speech, at Mason Temple Church Of God in Christ in Memphis. Bishop Blake is the senior pastor of the West Angeles Cathedral COGIC in Los Angeles. Known for the achievements of her students and school alumni, she had also served during these years, by invitation and appointment, on national federal commissions and with noted African-American women's groups. [29] COGIC continued to grow and in 1973, the church claimed a worldwide membership of nearly three million. We believe that the regeneration by the Holy Ghost is absolutely essential for personal salvation. Bishop Carter came into holiness in 1952 at the Jones Avenue Church of God in Christ, under the leadership of the late Bishop George Briley. But during the early twentieth century, the Pentecostal movement had rapid growth nationally and attracted racially integrated congregants to its worship services. For the Anabaptist denomination, see, The official seal of the COGIC features a sheaf of wheat representing the members of the COGIC. A general supervisor of women is appointed by the presiding bishop and given authority to lead the International Women's Ministry of the church. At its first convocation held in 1897, the group identified simply as the "Church of God." His ministry spanned more than seven decades. He called for an annual gathering of COGIC members, known as the "International Holy Convocation", to be held in Memphis. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, as COGIC continued to grow to millions of members nationwide, COGIC ministers all over the country continued to advance civil rights in their communities. In 2021 he was again re-elected Bishop as a member of the Presidium (General Board) of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., at that time he was also subsequently elected to the Office of the Presiding Bishop as Chief Apostle. The Elders' Council met and organized the first Missions board of the Church of God in Christ. Presiding Bishop Emeritus of the Church of God in Christ, Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America, "COGIC Re-Elects Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr. as Leader - Afro", "PRESS RELEASE: Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr. Will Not Seek Reelection", "Why the Power of the Black Church Matters This Election", "Whitehouse.gov - Inaugural Advisory Council: Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships", Succession of Church of God in Christ Leaders, Historically African-American Christian denominations, First African Baptist Church (Richmond, Virginia), First African Baptist Church (Savannah, Georgia).
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