This came on the heels of former Presiding Bishop Charles Edward Blake Sr.'s October 2020 announcement that he would not seek reelection. He was denied such trial in 2016. The school enjoyed its greatest growth and success under the leadership of Dr. Arenia Conella Mallory (19041977). Patterson in March 2007. Pentecostals have been known and continue to be known for their lively worship, exuberant expressions of praise and worship, and musical compilations, mostly relying on congregational singing of hymns and chants. 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. Here are the other 11 members elected to COGIC's general board, its highest executive board: Bishop Prince Bryant Sr., pastor of The Island of Hope Church of God in Christ and Buck Street Memorial . Mitchell#, national evangelist, pastor, St. Andrew, Denton, TX, Carlis L. Moody#, foreign missionary, jurisdictional bishop emeritus, Germany Jurisdiction; pastor, Faith Temple, Evanston, IL, Eugene Franklin Rivers, political activist, pastor, Azusa Christian Community, Boston, MA, William Roberts#, jurisdictional bishop, Illinois First Jurisdiction, pastor, Robert's Temple, Chicago, IL, John Drew Sheard, general board member, jurisdictional bishop, Michigan North Central Jurisdiction; pastor, Greater Emmanuel Institutional, Detroit, MI, Nathan Simmons#, national evangelist, pastor, Citadel of Hope Evangelistic, Atlanta, GA, Robert James Ward#, jurisdictional bishop, Eastern Missouri First Jurisdiction; pastor, Historic Kennerly Temple, St. Louis, MO, Wyoming Wells#, jurisdictional bishop, Greater North Carolina Jurisdiction; pastor, Well's Memorial, Greensboro, NC; Well's Chapel, Greenville, NC, Frank Otha White#, General Board Member, Jurisdictional Bishop, New York Eastern Third Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction; Pastor, Zion Cathedral, Freeport, NY, David Lawrence Williams Sr.#, general board member, jurisdictional bishop, Virginia Second Jurisdiction; pastor, Mason Memorial, Norfolk, VA, Levi Edgar Willis#, radio and television personality, jurisdictional bishop, Virginia Third Jurisdiction; pastor, Garden of Prayer Temple, Norfolk, VA, Roy Lawrence Hailey Winbush#, general board member, jurisdictional bishop, Louisiana First Jurisdiction; pastor, Gethsemane, Lafayette, LA, Bishop Richard Mr. Bishop Sheard was inducted into the prestigious Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers. General Secretary Bishop Joel H. Lyles Jr.. Chairman of the General Assembly Bishop Lemuel F. Thuston. He believed that the name, taken from 1 Thessalonians 2:14, was divinely revealed and biblically inspired. Jesse Jackson was invited to speak during the COGIC International Holy Convocation when he was running for the presidency. The presiding bishop and all twelve members of the general board are to be elected every four years and preside over the church when the General Assembly is not in session. Porter pointed out that he is based in Memphis. The denomination teaches that God gives life to human beings, biologically and spiritually, through the moment of conception in the womb of the mother, using Jeremiah 1:5, Genesis 1:2627, and Psalms 139:1316 as their scriptural basis for this belief. Patterson, who became presiding bishop in 2000 at the age of 60. 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. They are the largest department in the COGIC. As the church continued to grow, she created women auxiliaries including the Purity Class and the Sunshine Band. COGIC licensed female evangelists may also serve as chaplains in military, federal, state, and local institutions requiring chaplains. Second Vice Chairman of the National Board of Trustees Attorney Amos Smith. One of her contributions was to divide the women's fellowship in the local congregations into two groups: The Christian Women's Council for the middle aged and senior women, and the Young Women's Christian Council (YWCC) for the younger women. Mamie Till-Mobley was a member of St. Paul COGIC led by then Elder Louis Henry Ford (who would later become the presiding bishop of the denomination) officiated the service. At the start of the new millennium, then COGIC presiding Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson, continued to support the advancement of civil rights. These events include physical death, the intermediate state, bodily resurrection, the Second Coming of Christ, the Great Tribulation, the Battle of Armageddon, the Millennial Reign, the Final Judgment, the future of the wicked in hell, and life for the redeemed in heaven.[48]. Christ is the Head of the church, and He is the only mediator between God and humanity, and there is no salvation in any other. [4] He was reelected to a third term as Presiding Bishop on November 15, 2016. Bishop Brandon B. Porter Secretary to the General Board (2021present) and board member (2012present). Vice President of COGIC World Missions-Supervisor Faye M. Butler. The seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and is part of a consortium of the Interdenominational Theological Center. As a result, an ongoing dispute between Elder Carter and Bishop Blake continued without resolution. 2 in the denomination and whose death was reported by The Detroit News; Bishop Timothy Scott, a leader for nearly 50 years of the denomination in Mississippi whose death was reported During her leadership, several new buildings were constructed on the 350-acre campus to serve this expansion. 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. They determined to separate from COGIC and form what would eventually become the Worldwide Fellowship of the Assemblies of God. On May 19, 1952, he added Bishop J. O. Patterson Sr. Also in 1952, Mason revised the constitution to determine the leadership and succession of the church after his death. B. McEwen, Bishop J. S. Bailey, and Bishop O. M. Kelly as his assistants. White. Humanity can only be restored through salvation offered only through Jesus Christ. Well-known gospel musicians with COGIC roots include; Andrae Crouch and Sandra Crouch, Walter Hawkins and Edwin Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins, Rubenstein McClure, Yvette Flunder, Sara Jordan Powell, Daryl Coley, BeBe and CeCe Winans, The Winans, "Detroit" Gary Wiggins, John P. Kee, The O'Neal Twins, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Rance Allen, Rev. At the time, because many churches disagreed with what they considered its eccentric worship styles and expressions of Pentecostalism, such as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues and the laying on of hands, many churches distanced themselves from the COGIC for many years. Welcome to the Official Church Of God In Christ, Inc Online Store Dismiss. The current president of the Missions Department is Bishop Vincent Mathews Jr. of South Africa. Chairman of the General Council of Pastors and Elders Superintendent Michael Eaddy. 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. Vice President of COGIC World Missions-Bishop Glenn Plummer. There seemed no prospect of an integrated Pentecostal movement under the leadership of an African-American such as C. H. B. McEwen made conflicting administrative and executive decisions. 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 a Pentecostal church, COGIC teaches that when one is baptized in the Holy Spirit, the believer will experience an initial evidence of speaking in tongues (glossolalia) by the will of God. [5] Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly African-American membership based within the United States. [61] Finally, she changed the visible presence of women in ministry with the introduction of the ministry "habit". Evangelist Goldia Haynes, Elder Utah Smith, Madame Earnestine Washington, and Marion Williams continued COGIC's influence throughout the fifties and sixties. The current General Supervisor of Women is Dr. Barbara McCoo Lewis of Los Angeles, California. Student Aid a ministry of support to foreign students. She was greatly interested in the building of Mason Temple and she kept her national building fund drives functioning until she knew the building was ready for dedication. [11] In 2016, Bishop Blake was appointed as the Co-Chairperson to the leadership council of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America. It ultimately ended by 1930, when the Depression set in. The ordinances of the church are water baptism by immersion, the Lord's Supper and foot washing. Welcome to the Official Church Of God In Christ, Inc Online Store Dismiss. In 1982, he was selected by Ebony magazine as one of the 15 "Greatest Preachers in America". His dream was to establish an international ministry complex known as "Saints Center" and an accredited institution known as "All Saints University". Later, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, ironically known as the "godmother of Rock and Roll," expanded and highlighted the COGIC sound to the greater American public in the 1930s and 1940s. As has been stated, COGIC does not ordain women as elder or bishop, however, COGIC would not have become the largest predominately African-American Pentecostal church in the world, nor have the largest Women's convention of any major denomination without the contributions of women. They exist today as adversaries to the kingdom, purpose and will of God. 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. During World War I, the FBI opened a file on Bishop Mason and conducted surveillance on him because of his pacifism during the war. C. P. Jones was elected the General Overseer, C. H. Mason was selected as Overseer of Tennessee, and J. In 1951, the first separate National Sunday School Convention convened in Kansas City, Missouri. Presiding Bishop J. Bishop O. T. Jones Sr, however, did not leave the COGIC. Mallory retired in 1976 after fifty years of service; and she had a national reputation. Youth on a Mission (YOAM) a ministry of young people visiting the mission field to serve each summer. Together he and his wife, Karen, founded Karew Records, a faith-based record label focusing on various forms of Gospel, Christian and Inspirational music. In November 1975, at the National Holy Convocation in Memphis, TN., with the consent of the General Board, Bishop Carlis Moody Sr. of Evanston, Illinois, was appointed by Bishop J. O. Patterson to be president of the Department of Home and Foreign Missions. He was pastor of the Pentecostal Temple Institutional COGIC in Memphis, Tennessee, and was the Presiding Prelate of the Tennessee Headquarters Jurisdiction. (19721994). In 1951, when Bishop Mason was approaching 85 years of age, he set up a "special commission" to help with the administration and oversight of the church. Drew Sheard is a former public-school teacher. Bishop Malcolm W. Coby Board member (2021present). Male as well as female evangelists were instrumental in spreading COGIC throughout the United States as well as around the world. She is also the Jurisdictional Supervisor for the First Jurisdiction, Southern California. Bishop Patterson was also to date the youngest person to ever be elected presiding bishop of COGIC at the age of 56; the second youngest was his nephew Gilbert Earl (G.E.) She formed her daughters into a singing group who became known as the legendary "Clark Sisters" who helped introduce and became leaders of the contemporary gospel music era. Chairman of the Board of Bishops Bishop Albert Galbraith. 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. 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. Carter currently posts material on YouTube and Facebook reporting alleged misconduct and impropriety within current leadership of COGIC and other Christian (mainly African-American) denominations. The church has a tradition of prayer, fasting, praise, and consecration that was once unique to Holiness or Holiness Pentecostal groups. He also established the COGIC national headquarters there. [33] C. E. Blake served as the Presiding Prelate of the First Jurisdiction of Southern California. 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. COGIC teaches that the Holy Spirit is alive and active in the world. 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). This office is reserved for a woman who serves as counterpart to the Sunday School Superintendent. A general supervisor of women is appointed by the presiding bishop and given authority to lead the International Women's Ministry of the church. Thereafter, missionaries were sent to Africa and the islands of the Caribbean, Asia, and elsewhere. The Church of God in Christ is the fifth largest Protestant religious denomination in the United States, the largest Pentecostal church in the country and the second largest Pentecostal organization in the world with churches in 60 countries worldwide and an estimated membership of nearly 6.5 million members. He established COGIC Charities which has provided thousands of dollars in college scholarships and disaster relief efforts such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Chairman of the National Board of Trustees Bishop Dwight E. Walls Sr.. First Vice Chairman of the National Board of Trustees Superintendent Melton Timmons. Deaconess Missionaries serve and assist in the ceremonial and temporal affairs of the local church. The Holy Spirit is the agent that equips, empowers, leads, and guides the church until the return of Christ. They were also instrumental in establishing 75 churches across the nation. During the tenure of Bishop J. O. Patterson Sr. as Presiding Bishop in the 1970s and 80s, Bishop Patterson established several interdenominational Christian schools and seminaries, and helped to establish the World Fellowship of Black Pentecostal Churches and gained COGIC membership in the Congress of National Black Churches as well, a national caucus of Black church denominations that represent different denominations and organizations of the Black Church in America. COGIC continues to influence gospel music with a new generation of artists with COGIC roots that include: Kim Burrell, Ivan Powell, Doobie Powell, Kierra Sheard, J. Moss, Micah Stampley, Kurt Carr, Ricky Dillard, Kelly Price, Mary Mary Erica Campbell (musician) and Tina Campbell (musician), Tamela Mann, Dr. Gennie Ruth Cheatham Chandler, Earnest Pugh, Jonathan McReynolds, Jabari Johnson, DuShawn Washington, Instrumentalists: Dr. Vernard Johnson (saxophonist), Samuel Murrell (violinist) and Terrance Curry (trombonist), D'Extra Wiley (II D Extreme) and Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child). Nigeria alone has 19 bishops and more than 2000 churches. Vice President of COGIC World Missions-Supervisor Sideary King. Over time, the ministers and churches under Leonard P. Adams also separated from COGIC; they assimilated into other white Pentecostal groups or organizations. 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. Battles served as president until his death in December 1996. Secretary of the National Judiciary Board Attorney Peter Davis. Pastor Dennis Martin and Superintendent Willie James Campbell succeeded Bishop White as presidents. James Moore, Thomas Whitfield (singer), Deniece Williams, Hubert Powell, Donnie McClurkin, LaShun Pace, The Anointed Pace Sisters, Dr. Bettye Ransom Nelson, Bishop Richard "Mr. Clean" White, Bishop Paul S. Morton, The Clark Sisters: (Jacky Clark-Chisholm, Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark, Dorinda Clark-Cole and Karen Clark-Sheard). He testified to receiving entire sanctification after reading her autobiography in 1893. 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. This group of seven bishops became known officially as the executive commission; they took on greater responsibility over church affairs until Mason's death. According to its 1973 Constitution, the church has two structures to govern the church: civil and ecclesiastical. The denomination considers these to be inconsistent with COGIC doctrine and teaching. Bishop Sedgwick Daniels Board member (2008present). President, International Department of Missions Bishop Vincent Matthews Jr.. In 2010 Superintendent J. Church Of God In Christ, Inc. 2015-23. Originally, this gathering of the 'Saints' lasted for twenty days, from November 25 to December 14. Bishop Prince E. W. Bryant Sr. Board member (2021present). [37] The National Council of Churches ranks it as the fifth largest Christian denomination in the U.S.[38] COGIC is a HolinessPentecostal Christian denomination,[2][4] with a predominantly African-American membership. However, he said in his remarks that he did not want to use the word "retirement" as he said, "he would still be worshiping and fellowshiping with the saints of God in worship services, and that he would still be around for anyone who needs pastoral and fatherly counseling, prayer, and mentorship,"but added that he would no longer be carrying out his official duties as senior pastor of the church, and that he would "continue to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and serve the ministries of West Angeles however the Lord leads me and however you all may need me as the Lord sees fit and allows me to live on, so consider myself as semi-retired."[sic]. The current chairman of AIM is Bishop Linwood E. Dillard of Memphis, TN.[62]. 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. Some of these African-American Baptist pastors in local Southern areas such as Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas considered Jones and Mason to be controversial. Timothy Wright, Myrna Summers, Rev. She began women's work on the state level and appointed the first state mothers. [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. 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. Mother Willie Mae Rivers (19972017) of Goose Creek, South Carolina, succeeded Mother Crouch. Gilbert. Ford, as Saints' Academy, a private co-educational grade school. [8], In 1897, Elder Mason founded the St. Paul Church in Lexington, Mississippi, as the first church of the new movement. He is known to many as being an eloquent, compassionate and practical leader, as well as a humanitarian and an advocate with a God-given gift for ministering to the whole man. They were given the authority through a "gentlemen's agreement" to license ministers and establish churches under the COGIC name. These auxiliaries are found in nearly every church, district, and jurisdiction within COGIC and function to support the holistic approach that COGIC has toward ministry within the church and the larger community that COGIC congregations serve. By that time, it was known as Saints Academy and Junior College. Drew Sheard was born on January 1, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan, to Bishop and Mrs. John Henry Sheard. Demons exist as manifestation of evil or unclean spirits. [15], COGIC originated among African Americans in the Southern states of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee. In addition to the general board, there is a board of bishops that is composed of all jurisdictional and auxiliary bishops, a national trustee board that is composed of 15 members who are elected for a term of four years, the General Council of Pastors and Elders, which is open to any officially recognized pastor and current credentialed ordained elder in the church. It was reopened in the early 1990s under the administration of Bishop L.H. Assistant Secretary of the Board of Bishops Bishop Adrian Williams. It had a membership of more than 400,000, who supported more than 4,000 churches. March 22, 2021. In 1996, the then Elder J. COGIC considers any physical, sexual relationship outside of the sanctity of marriage to be outside of the sovereign will of God and unbiblical. Drew Sheard, Sr. as Presiding Bishop on March 20, 2021. 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. By. He led a group of students to participate in the March on Selma. As Pentecostals, the Church believes that demons can be subdued and subjugated through the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. Today COGIC operates the All Saints Bible College in Memphis, the C. H. Mason system of bible colleges, and the C. H. Mason Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. C. P. Jones and those Holiness leaders who did not embrace the Azusa Revival experience continued as Holiness churches. Bishop Blake is an ardent advocate of education and academic excellence, who holds multiple academic and honorary degrees, from various educational institutions. He became nationally recognized in 1955 for officiating at the funeral of 15-year-old Emmett Till, who was brutally murdered in Mississippi. [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. In 2017, Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake appointed gospel artist and Evangelist Dr. Dorinda Clark Cole of Detroit, Michigan as the Elect Lady. 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. Washington, Bishop Chandler D. Owens, Bishop Brandon B. Porter, and Bishop J. Coffey was a child convert to COGIC under the preaching of Bishop Mason, and was influential in organizing many of the auxiliaries, bands, and units that exist within the COGIC Women's Department. Then in 1946, the YPWW Department was combined with the Sunday School Department for joint conventions until 1951 when they were separated once again. The general assembly is the supreme authority over the church to decide matters of faith and practice. The Church of God in Christ ecclesiastical structure is an episcopal-presbyterian form of government. Blake was the fifth Presiding Bishop (and seventh leader) of the historically African-American denomination from 2007 to 2021. The church's new presiding bishop, who took office on March 20, said he will have to. [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. She was the Jurisdictional Supervisor of Women for California Northern First Jurisdiction.