Despite what seems to be obvious limitations to minister because of ordination, women have been given great latitude and numerous opportunities to serve in ministry in COGIC. She was the wife and companion of Bishop John Seth Bailey, a trusted adviser of Bishop Mason, and later the first assistant presiding bishop of the church. It includes not only those who are members of COGIC, but all believers who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It had a membership of more than 400,000, who supported more than 4,000 churches. [42], COGIC teaches that angels are messengers sent from God who served during the creation, throughout the Old Testament, the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, the establishment of the church and the ministry of the apostles, and continue to be at work in the Kingdom of God. 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. It is one of the largest gathering of Christian women from any major denomination and religious organization. Of special note is Evangelist Reatha Herndon who served as the International Elect Lady of the Department of Evangelism from 1951 to 2001. Vice chairman of the General Council of Pastors and Elders Bishop Marcus Ways. The church started with only 50 members in 1969 when he became pastor. It can be spoken of as the individual and the collective, physical and spiritual. Drew Sheard. [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. From the very beginning of gospel music, COGIC members have influenced its rise. Golden Jr. During the 1930s and 40s, a white COGIC elder named James L. Delk who remained in the church after many whites had left, was very active in politics in Missouri and worked to promote civil rights by writing legislatures and petitioning the federal government on the behalf of COGIC. All rights reserved. Winbush General Board Member Jurisdictional prelate", Atonement: COGIC Leader Slams "Disrespectful" Preacher & Apologizes To 'I'm Not Gay No More' Guy | AlwaysAList.com, Bishop Blake Condemns 'Bad Preacher'; Apologizes to 'I Don't Like Mens No More' Guy, "COGIC's Bishop Charles Blake Wins Defamation Lawsuit Against Minister Earl Carter", "Man Who Attacked COGIC Bishop Charles Blake Jailed", "Dr. Earl Carter Responses to Bishop Blake Apology", "A Letter to the Members of the Church of God in Christ, Inc", Succession of Church of God in Christ Leaders, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Church_of_God_in_Christ&oldid=1141739755, Bishop J. O. Patterson Sr. presiding bishop, Bishop J. S. Bailey first assistant presiding bishop, Bishop S. M. Crouch second assistant presiding bishop. The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a HolinessPentecostal Christian denomination,[2][4] and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. [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. She also established the Mattie McGlothen Library and Museum in Richmond, California, as a resource for COGIC historical facts and memorabilia. COGIC believes, though, that even then in the case of saving the life of the mother, that abortion should still only be considered as a last resort, if all other options to help the mother and the unborn fetus have been thoroughly exhausted. After being ejected for accepting these new Pentecostal teachings, Mason called a meeting in Memphis later in the year and reorganized the Church of God in Christ as a Holiness-Pentecostal body. It was destroyed by fire in 1936. Nurses Aid Ministry nurses taking their skills to the mission field. This group of seven bishops became known officially as the executive commission; they took on greater responsibility over church affairs until Mason's death. MEMPHIS, Tenn Funeral arrangements are set for COGIC Evangelist Louise Patterson, the widow of the late Bishop G.E. She organized the sewing circle and after meeting Elder Searcy, she encouraged the women to support mission work through the Home and Foreign Mission bands. Bishop Prince E. W. Bryant Sr. Board member (2021present). Mother Jennie Bell Dancy Jones of Arkansas became the first National Field Representative under Bishop Patrick. As COGIC has continued to grow, new departments, auxiliaries, and ministries have been established including the music department, the National Adjutancy, Men's Department, COGIC Charities, and Urban Initiatives to name a few. She is also the Jurisdictional Supervisor for the First Jurisdiction, Southern California. She also established a musical program. He appointed regional presidents to serve as liaisons to the jurisdictional presidents. He consecrated and appointed more than 100 bishops during his twenty-one years of leadership. Chairman of the National Judiciary Board Bishop Martin Luther Johnson. In a November 2007 special election, he was elected to complete the unexpired term of his predecessor as Presiding Bishop. COGIC became a major force in the collective Black Church and worldwide Pentecostal movement. 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. Other accolades include the Distinguished Leadership Award from the African Presidential Archives and. For many years, West Angeles has been one of the fastest growing churches in the United States and remains the largest COGIC local congregation with a membership of 25,000. However, after a meeting in Hot Springs, Arkansas that led to the founding of the Assemblies of God, the white constituency of COGIC continued to decline, until it was almost nonexistent by the 1930s. COGIC policies and bylaws have also been established regarding sexual misconduct of COGIC clergy and laymembers for disciplinary purposes. Mason sent ministers and evangelists to cities and urban areas outside the South, including William Roberts (Chicago), O. M. Kelly (New York), O. T. Jones Sr. (Philadelphia), E. R. Driver (Los Angeles), and Samuel Kelsey (Washington, D.C.) From these major cities, COGIC spread throughout the country. The church has more than 3,000 churches in Asia, and 2,000 churches in the Caribbean and South America. As founder and CEO of Save Africas Children, a program of the Pan African Childrens Fund, he helps to support more than 200,000 children in 400 orphan care programs throughout more than 23 nations on the continent of Africa. [50], In July 2016 during their annual Auxiliaries in Ministries convention, COGIC announced their Urban Initiative Outreach ministries and Missions and Charity departments would be partnering up with The Human Coalition, an anti-abortion advocacy group, from 2016 to 2019 for a three-year initiative to encourage COGIC pastors and ministers to encourage anti-abortion advocacy in their local churches. 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. Helm Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi, attended by Mason and others from several states. We believe that the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, according to Acts 2:4, is given to believers who ask for it. In 1981, Bishop J.O. Some of these African-American Baptist pastors in local Southern areas such as Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas considered Jones and Mason to be controversial. [35], In 2016, the Church had 5.5 million members in 60 countries around the world. She was the Jurisdictional Supervisor of Women for Texas Southwest Jurisdiction under the late Bishop T. D. Iglehart. On the local church level in addition to the office of missionary, COGIC developed and has maintained the position of the "church mother." Multiple Bishops and Pastors within Church of God in Christ Have Died The court ordered the church to convene a constitutional convention in February 1968. Save Africa's Children, a program of PACF, currently provides support to over 220 charity missions and orphanages throughout sub-Saharan Africa. 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. Music Dept. On June 5, 1951, he selected Bishop A. Rev. Presiding Bishop J. The constitutional convention drafted and approved a new constitution which dissolved both the office of the Senior Bishop and the executive board; it also established the General Assembly, which meets biannually, as the supreme authority over the church to decide matters of faith and practice. The three-year initiative would also help encourage COGIC clergy to use their missions and charity ministries in local churches to help offer aid and assistance to African-Americans and people of other ethnic minorities, and people of low incomes in local communities who are considering and contemplating abortion and offer aid and assistance to people dealing with economic and medical issues from pregnancy. It is a separate and distinct work of grace that occurs in the lives of believers after conversion. 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. She built a home for missionaries in the Bahamas, a pavilion for senior citizens and unwed mothers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In 1975, he resigned as co-pastor, withdrawing his membership in the COGIC because of leadership disagreements with his uncle, J. O. Patterson Sr. concerning an establishment of another jurisdiction in the city of Memphis. In 1946, the National Sunday School Congress began to meet with the Young People's Willing Workers (YPWW) Congress. But during the early twentieth century, the Pentecostal movement had rapid growth nationally and attracted racially integrated congregants to its worship services. [12] On November 15, 2016, Bishop Blake was reelected as the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ during the 2016 COGIC Election held by the COGIC General Assembly to a third four-year term. Gilbert. 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. Adelle M. Banks. Supervisor Irene Oakley#, pastor, supervisor, bishop's wife, Mother Louise Patterson, evangelist, former first lady and wife of G.E. We believe that the only means of being cleansed from sin is through repentance and faith in the precious Blood of Jesus Christ. "Bishop Mason was one who lifted African Americans who were former slaves and the children of slaves, lifted them up from the degradation of slavery, ex-slavery, the brokenness of poverty,". Drew Sheard was born on Jan. 1, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan, to Bishop and Mrs. John Henry Sheard. Winbush was selected to serve as the first chairman. During the tenure of Bishop L. H. Ford as Presiding Bishop in the 1990s, he helped gain COGIC membership into the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America, a more diverse, international caucus of different Pentecostal church denominations and organizations that sought to heal the racial divides in the North American Pentecostal movement.[57]. He established the World Fellowship of Black Pentecostal Churches and gained COGIC membership in the Congress of National Black Churches. Blake has also formerly served as an Advisory Committee Member of the Pentecostal World Conference, and as the founder and Co-chair of the Los Angeles Ecumenical Congress (LAEC), an interdenominational coalition of religious leaders and pastors for the city of Los Angeles. She served as the jurisdictional supervisor of several states including Maryland and New Jersey helping to establish and stabilize struggling jurisdictions. Mother Rivers also began the "49 and Under" to enlist and focus the younger women of COGIC to remain committed to the doctrine and teachings of the church. Jones Sr. was elected Senior Bishop by the General Assembly. However, the Church believes that in some extreme or rare cases, medical and operational abortion may be the safest way to help the mother if the pregnancy is jeopardizing the mother's life and health. [29], Bishop Gilbert Earl (G. E.) Patterson began his ministry as co-pastor of the Holy Temple COGIC with his father, Bishop W. A. Patterson. Driver, who was the overseer of California and pastor of the Saints Home COGIC led an interracial congregation made up of many Blacks, Whites, and Latinos, for many years. In the 1920s, Arizona Dranes, a blind Evangelist Missionary became one of the first gospel artists to bring the musical styles of COGIC to the public in her records for Okeh and performances. ", COGIC teaches that sanctification is a continuous operation of the Holy Spirit, by which he "delivers the justified sinner from the pollution of sin, renews his whole nature in the image of God and enables him to perform good works". 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. 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. The rope that holds the shaft together represents Charles Harrison Mason, COGIC's founding father. Military chaplains have also been instrumental in spreading COGIC through military installations. It teaches that sanctification should precede the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Superintendent, International Sunday School Department Superintendent Mark Ellis. According to Alex Haley, "He and his wife then received bomb threats at home and at church." Divorce is considered inconsistent with biblical teachings and is highly discouraged as well, but exceptions are made for special circumstances. The current General Supervisor of Women is Dr. Barbara McCoo Lewis of Los Angeles, California. Sin was transmitted to humanity when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, as a result all men have original sin. Bishop Owens led the COGIC in its centennial celebration in 1997 with the theme, "Holiness, a Proven Foundation for a Promising Future!" Young, James Brewer, Daniel Spearman, and J. H. Boone. Demons exist as manifestation of evil or unclean spirits. 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. New COGIC leader J. Drew Sheard seeks to be a 'unifier' in Memphis The first Sunday School Superintendent was Professor L. W. Lee (19081916). The Department of Evangelism was officially organized on a national level by Overseer L.C. The YPWW department began in 1928 with the convening of its first Youth Congress. Bishop Sheard is a former mathematics teacher and . Evangelist Missionaries are licensed to preach the gospel, conduct gospel meetings, and may be given the oversight of local congregations serving as the church administrator. He is also known for his aggressive initiative, "Save Africa's Children" which supports hundreds of African children who have been affected by HIV/AIDS in orphanages in several countries in Africa. Bishop James Oglethorpe Patterson 1968-1989* *Tenure as leader of the church: Presiding Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson 2000-Present: Bishop Louis Henry Ford 1990-1995* Bishop Chandler David Owens 1995-2000* 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. [13], Although the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) began earlier, it is still the case that in 1907, with ten congregations, The Church of God in Christ became the first legally chartered Pentecostal body incorporated in the United States. B. McEwen, Bishop J. S. Bailey, and Bishop O. M. Kelly as his assistants. Blake was the fifth Presiding Bishop (and seventh leader) of the historically African-American denomination from 2007 to 2021. He began production of the YPWW Quarterly Topics to train the youth of the COGIC in the faith, doctrine, and polity of the church. 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. The Church of God in Christ ecclesiastical structure is an episcopal-presbyterian form of government. Elder Carter called for a Church trial before the COGIC General Assembly and Judicial Board according to the Constitution of the COGIC. By that time, it was known as Saints Academy and Junior College. The presiding bishop is part of a general board, consisting of eleven other bishops elected by a general assembly consisting of pastors, elders, chaplains, bishops, missionaries, supervisors, and designated lay delegates. The COGIC constitution at the time did not identify a clear successor or the authority of the executive board after Mason's death. Mason. Vice President of COGIC World Missions-Supervisor Sideary King. Jurisdictions are set up similar to the national church in terms of composition, polity, and procedure. Second Vice Chairman of the National Board of Trustees Attorney Amos Smith. As a result, many local congregations, foreign missions, and schools were established through the leadership and efforts of women in COGIC. General Secretary Bishop Joel H. Lyles Jr.. Chairman of the General Assembly Bishop Lemuel F. Thuston. They unanimously chose C.H. Macklin was selected as the first chairman. CN Morning Rundown: Watch COGIC Installation, Consecration of Bishops We believe in the Blessed Hope, which is the rapture of the Church of God, which is in Christ, at His return. Church of God in Christ: COGIC Presiding Bishop Ousted The three-year-initiative with The Human Coalition was also supposed to encourage local COGIC clergy leaders across the United States, both male and female, to partner up with other anti-abortion advocacy groups and Christian ministries to lobby for more anti-abortion restrictions throughout local states.[51]. By. Mother Willie Mae Rivers (19972017) of Goose Creek, South Carolina, succeeded Mother Crouch. Most recently, Biola University conferred an honorary doctorate upon him on June 12, 2010. (Young People Willing Workers), and Missions and Evangelism. 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. Bishop Blake is an ardent advocate of education and academic excellence, who holds multiple academic and honorary degrees, from various educational institutions. [47] COGIC regards homosexuality, infidelity, and any other forms of sexual immorality that does not agree with Biblical scripture as sinful. In 1982 he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in . Welcome to the Official Church Of God In Christ, Inc Online Store Dismiss. Blake, Sr. and the late Evangelist Lula M. Blake. He was pastor of the Pentecostal Temple Institutional COGIC in Memphis, Tennessee, and was the Presiding Prelate of the Tennessee Headquarters Jurisdiction. [48] COGIC clergy are also encouraged to have a certain degree of training in marriage counseling as well. Bishop Sheard was inducted into the prestigious Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers. Michigan Chronicle Endorses Bishop J. Drew Sheard for Re-election to ", Elder Carter said that such public rebuke and condemnation were unwarranted, as he was not given a chance to say why he had made such statements. [55], A 2014 statistical study from the Pew Research Center Forum on Religion & Public Life, reported that most members of COGIC usually got married between the ages of 25 and 30, and that over 42% of COGIC members between the ages of 25 and 65+ were married, at least 19% were divorced or separated, 32% were never married, and at least 5% were widowed. Bishop L. H. Ford (Former Presiding Bishop COGIC) - YouTube 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. [33] In 2009, Bishop Blake unveiled an aggressive program known as "Urban Initiatives" to address the plight of America's urban areas. [20], In 1926, Mason authorized the church's constitution, outlining the bylaws, rules, and regulations of the church. They determined to separate from COGIC and form what would eventually become the Worldwide Fellowship of the Assemblies of God. Ford, as Saints' Academy, a private co-educational grade school. 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. In 1969, he was asked by his father and by Southern California COGIC bishop, Bishop Samuel M. Crouch, to take over as the pastor of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ. Blake has served as Chair of the Executive Committee, member of the Board of Directors of Oral Roberts University, and as a member of the Board of Directors of International Charismatic Bible Ministries. Although headquartered in Memphis, COGIC's leaders . On May 19, 1952, he added Bishop J. O. Patterson Sr. Student Aid a ministry of support to foreign students. Today COGIC has more than 12,000 churches, and several schools, missions, and medical clinics in more than eighty nations, including every inhabited continent. The current presiding bishop and chief apostle is Bishop J. 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. Drew Sheard June 22 and the consecration service for the jurisdictional and auxiliary bishop designates June 23, 2021. . The general secretary, general treasurer, and financial secretary terms run concurrent with the current presidential administration that is elected every four years.[20]. In 1955, Emmett Till's funeral was held at Robert's Temple Church Of God in Christ in Chicago, Illinois. The current president of the Missions Department is Bishop Vincent Mathews Jr. of South Africa. Bishop Blake also won a defamation lawsuit in 2016 against Earl Carter, who was ordered to remove all defamatory videos and to cease and desist from further conduct disparaging Bishop Blake. During his administration, Battles organized Regions to oversee evangelistic ministry in various regional areas across the country. In 1976, under the leadership of Bishop J.O. The legislative authority of the church is vested in a general assembly, composed of the members of the general board, jurisdictional/auxiliary bishops, jurisdictional supervisors, chaplains, pastors, ordained elders, four district missionaries and six lay members from each jurisdiction. Chandler David Owens Sr. - Wikipedia Timothy Wright, Myrna Summers, Rev. A general supervisor of women is appointed by the presiding bishop and given authority to lead the International Women's Ministry of the church. Washington, Bishop Chandler D. Owens, Bishop Brandon B. Porter, and Bishop J. According to a 2015 statistical study by the Pew Research Center, the denomination was estimated to have a United States membership of approximately 84% African-Americans, 5% White Americans, 8% Latino-Americans, and roughly 2% Asian-Americans. . His testimony "literally went viral, and brought upon him criticism and sardonicism. 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. He also served as the Presiding Prelate of the New Jersey Garden State Jurisdiction and the Central Georgia Jurisdiction. In 2017, Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake appointed gospel artist and Evangelist Dr. Dorinda Clark Cole of Detroit, Michigan as the Elect Lady. In 1945, Mason dedicated Mason Temple in Memphis as the church's national meeting site. In 1982, he was selected by Ebony magazine as one of the 15 "Greatest Preachers in America". In looking to COGIC'S future, Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr., senior pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, announced last year that he would not seek-re-election as a member of the General Board or Presiding Bishop. As the church continued to grow, she created women auxiliaries including the Purity Class and the Sunshine Band. This list may not reflect recent changes . He was elected as the denomination's leader on March 27, 2021. [18], The H. A. Goss faction left COGIC to join the Assemblies of God USA. [29] COGIC continued to grow and in 1973, the church claimed a worldwide membership of nearly three million. Elder L. C. Patrick was added to the National Sunday School. Bishop John Drew Sheard is Presiding Bishop and Chief Apostle of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., one of the largest African American Pentecostal denominations in the United States with 12,000 churches in over 112 countries.
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