A Jeter and D. J. Bishop Sheard is married to Evangelist Karen Clark Sheard. [33] C. E. Blake served as the Presiding Prelate of the First Jurisdiction of Southern California. Sister Church Support Ministry a church in the USA giving support to a church on the mission field. 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. 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. 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. This convention brings thousands of COGIC members representing all the major departments including Sunday School, Missions, Evangelism, Music, and Youth together in July and meets in cities around the U.S. His passion for meeting the needs of the whole man reaches globally through his humanitarian efforts. Drew Sheard was born on January 1, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan, to Bishop and Mrs. John Henry Sheard. The school and college remain closed at present.[29]. Chairman of AIM Bishop Linwood Dillard. The COGIC emphasized the use of the choir as an integral part of the worship experience. Between 2009 and 2011, in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, Blake founded and was the first president of the Pan African Children's Fund (PACF). In 1984 and 1988 respectively, Rev. He also instituted the Annual Prayer Breakfast, conducted Evangelistic Crusades across the country and developed the Church of God in Christ National Evangelist Registry. In 1915, after years of court litigation over the name of the organization and use of the name "Church of God in Christ" by the two groups; Mason's group was granted the use of the name and Jones's group organized a legally chartered Holiness body called the Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A.[14], After moving to Memphis, Tennessee, Bishop Mason established a local congregation called Temple COGIC. Adelle M. Banks. Timothy Wright, Myrna Summers, Rev. He served on the trustee board for 12 years and has served on the general board for eight years. On October 23, 2020, Bishop Blake announced that he will not seek re-election as Presiding Bishop nor as a member of the General Board. Bishop Charles E. Blake, as the Presiding Bishop of the COGIC from the late 2000s up to the 2010s, was also dedicated to increasing and maintaining stable ecumenical relationships from the COGIC with other diverse Christian denominations, most notably Pentecostal/Charismatic churches, Baptist churches, African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Churches, and A.M.E. Zion churches, and even some non-denominational Christian ministries for the purposes of ministry efforts and collaborating on addressing social issues that affect Christians and specifically the Black Church in America, most notably through his Urban Initiatives program. He was a lifelong member of the. Drew Sheard who was elected in 2021. In 1964 however, disagreement between the authority of the Senior Bishop and the executive board, led by Bishop A. [93] Leaders within the COGIC, other denominations and Bishop Blake's own family came to his defense. 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 . Factions developed within the organization as both the senior bishop and Bishop A. She has previously served on the Women's advisory board, Executive Board, steering committee Women's International Convention, General Supervisor's Regional Representative (West Coast Region of the United States), member of the Program Committee then chairperson, Chairperson Special Convention Assistance Committee, National Leadership Conference and Women's Convention Leadership Conference, International Marshall and Assistant General Supervisor. Bishop Blake said, "The Church of God in Christ does not compromise its stance against homosexuality as the Word of God condemns it as sin, but "this preacher's" (referring to Earl Carter) comments were unacceptably offensive and uncalled for, and will not be tolerated by the Church of God in Christ or its leadership. Student Aid a ministry of support to foreign students. [5] He officially retired on March 19, 2021, and was succeeded by Bishop J. Together they traveled across the country proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [16], A few years after the Azusa Revival, in 1914, shortly before the United States entered World War I, approximately 300 white ministers, representing a variety of independent churches and networks of churches, including the "Association of Christian Assemblies" of Indiana; and the "Church of God in Christ and in Unity with the Apostolic Faith Movement" from Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas; met in Hot Springs, Arkansas. She revolutionized and reorganized the music ministry to become a leading department in the church. Bishop Chandler David Owens (1931-2011) - Find a She was the Jurisdictional Supervisor of Women for California Northern First Jurisdiction. She established a high school and gained accreditation for it, and then for the junior college which she founded on campus. Mother Lillian Coffey appointed Mother Reatha Herndon as president of the National Women's Evangelist Board in 1951. President, International Department of Missions Bishop Vincent Matthews Jr.. 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. He called for an annual gathering of COGIC members, known as the "International Holy Convocation", to be held in Memphis. The first general secretary of COGIC was Elder William B. Holt, a white minister. Patterson appointed Dr. Edward Lee Battles President of the Department of Evangelism. The early conventions of the Evangelist Board were basically crusades led by Page and a few other Evangelists from across the country. Medger Evers, the famed NAACP Field representative for the state of Mississippi who was gunned down in the front of his house in 1963 was raised in by his mother as a member of COGIC before later becoming a Baptist. He was pastor of the Pentecostal Temple Institutional COGIC in Memphis, Tennessee, and was the Presiding Prelate of the Tennessee Headquarters Jurisdiction. Patterson, as Presiding Bishop of the Church in the 2000s, he helped bridge denominational barriers and encouraged non-COGIC ministries and denominations to work collaboratively with the COGIC denomination to help support charity efforts for poor and disadvantaged African Americans and people affected by poverty and disasters in foreign countries through the COGIC Charities Department and the COGIC Missions and Evangelism Department. In 2000 at the Ninety-Third International Holy Convocation, the COGIC General Assembly elected Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson to replace Owens as Presiding Bishop. Deaconess Missionaries serve and assist in the ceremonial and temporal affairs of the local church. B. McEwen, Bishop J. S. Bailey, and Bishop O. M. Kelly as his assistants. Porter pointed out that he is based in Memphis. The Presiding Bishop - Church Of God In Christ In April 2018, Presiding Bishop Charles Blake along with Lee Saunders, Andrew Young, DeMaurice Smith, and Brian Dunn coordinated the "I AM 2018 Mountaintop Conference" at the historic Mason Temple in Memphis to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. COGIC believes marriage is a monogamous sacred, civil, and legal union between a husband and wife that is recognized as a covenant between them and God for the purpose of the couple being a helpmate to each other and raising a family together. [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. This office is reserved for a woman who serves as counterpart to the Sunday School Superintendent. OUR HISTORY | ucogic 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. [21], In 1907, there were ten COGIC churches, but by the time of Bishop Mason's death in 1961, COGIC had spread to every state in the United States and to many foreign countries. Holy Temple COGIC was the first church to open its doors to the garbage workers. He protested during the 1950s and 1960s against lodging segregation in Memphis, while participating in COGIC Holy Convocations there during the Civil Rights era before federal laws prohibiting such segregation. Elect Lady, International Department of Missions Mother Maddaline Norfleet. Mason Theological Seminary to train its ministers and ministry leaders. Secretary of the Board of Bishops Bishop William Watson, III. As COGIC continued to grow, the various departments began the practice of convening annually to conduct the business unique of their ministries. Demons exist as manifestation of evil or unclean spirits. In November 2008, Bishop Blake was re-elected to serve a four-year term as Presiding Bishop. 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* Welcome to the Official Church Of God In Christ, Inc Online Store Dismiss. Bishop Blake has several academic and honorary degrees, including a Doctor of Divinity from California Graduate School of Theology, a Doctor of Law degree from Oral Roberts University and an honorary doctorate from California State University, Los Angeles. Nevertheless, women are licensed in COGIC to proclaim the gospel as evangelists. Throughout the dispute, Elder Carter made allegations against Bishop Blake for impropriety, sexual misconduct, and abuse of power as presiding bishop. A general supervisor of women is appointed by the presiding bishop and given authority to lead the International Women's Ministry of the church. Patterson, former presiding bishop of the Church of God In Christ.. [36], In 2022, it was present in 112 countries in 2022. 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. Bishop Mason was pivotal in licensing and credentialing both white and African-American ministers, who spread the Pentecostal message and planted new churches. 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. 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. As Senior Pastor of the 26,000 member, West Angeles Church of God In Christ in Los Angeles, California, Bishop Blakes leadership is positively impacting lives and enhancing the community through the work of the many ministries offered. Chairman of the Board of Bishops Bishop Albert Galbraith. This endorsement allows female chaplains who are serving in the military, working in an institution or jails to perform religious services including funerals and weddings. The church has more than 3,000 churches in Asia, and 2,000 churches in the Caribbean and South America. He appointed regional presidents to serve as liaisons to the jurisdictional presidents. Church Of God In Christ, Inc. 2015-23. 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. 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. Mother Willie Mae Rivers (19972017) of Goose Creek, South Carolina, succeeded Mother Crouch. During the current administration of Presiding Bishop Charles Blake, COGIC unveiled its Urban Initiatives Program to provide 60,000 programs nationwide through its more than 12,000 congregations to continue to promote the work of civil rights, and to reduce poverty, crime and violence, etc. [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. There is one God eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is a separate and distinct work of grace that occurs in the lives of believers after conversion. Vice President of COGIC World Missions-Bishop Glenn Plummer. Mother Deborah Mason Patterson#, daughter of founder, Bishop Mason and wife of first presiding bishop James O. Patterson Sr. During the tenure of Bishop G.E. She was the Jurisdictional Supervisor of Women for Texas Southwest Jurisdiction under the late Bishop T. D. Iglehart. He has one older brother, J. 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). Clinton is the only US president to have addressed a COGIC convocation at Mason Temple. Over time, the ministers and churches under Leonard P. Adams also separated from COGIC; they assimilated into other white Pentecostal groups or organizations. "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,". Young were appointed as a committee by C. P. Jones to investigate reports of a revival in Los Angeles, California that was being led by an itinerant preacher named William J. Seymour. Giving Down by Half in Church of God in Christ - News & Reporting However, the General Assembly vested authority in the executive board composed of the seven bishops selected by Bishop Mason before his death. 2nd Assistant Presiding Bishop Bishop Lawrence M. Wooten. COGIC considers any physical, sexual relationship outside of the sanctity of marriage to be outside of the sovereign will of God and unbiblical. Under her leadership, the Women's International Convention added the term "and Crusade" to highlight and promote the evangelistic approach of the convention. He was elected as the denomination's leader on March 27, 2021. He was one of the nine members of the strategy committee that organized the sanitation strike in Memphis. During the formative stages of COGIC, Bishop Mason organized departments to further support the work of the church as it continued to grow and expand. The civil structure of the Church of God in Christ includes a president, first vice-president, second vice-president, general secretary, general treasurer, and the financial secretary. [29], Bishop Louis Henry Ford of Chicago, Illinois, was elected after the death of J.O. Mrs. Mattie McCaulley of Tulsa, Oklahoma was the first to respond, and was sent to Trinidad. Bishop Brandon B. Porter Secretary to the General Board (2021present) and board member (2012present). The current General Supervisor of Women is Dr. Barbara McCoo Lewis of Los Angeles, California. 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]. Secretary of the General Council of Pastors and Elders Superintendent Prince W. Bryant, II. He became a Christian and converted to Pentecostal Christianity as a young adolescent, under the ministry of his mother and father in Arkansas, and he and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was in his 20's when his father was asked to take over as a bishop of the First Jurisdiction of Southern California for the COGIC denomination. [15], COGIC originated among African Americans in the Southern states of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee. F or the first time, the nation's largest Pentecostal and African-American denomination, the 5.5 million-member Church of God in Christ (COGIC), has voted out its presiding bishop. Church of God in Christ Elects J. Drew Sheard as New Presiding Bishop Golden Jr. COGIC members gathered for praying, fasting, teaching, preaching, fellowship and conducting business related to the national COGIC organization. The church declares to be evangelical in ministry, fundamental in doctrine and practice and Pentecostal in worship and expression. She served as the jurisdictional supervisor of several states including Maryland and New Jersey helping to establish and stabilize struggling jurisdictions. 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. On November 14, 1968, the General Assembly of the COGIC elected the first general board and presiding bishop of the church. Elder Carter called for a Church trial before the COGIC General Assembly and Judicial Board according to the Constitution of the COGIC. The seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and is part of a consortium of the Interdenominational Theological Center. 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. During the 1950s and 60s, during the height of the civil rights movement, COGIC ministers and congregations played host to many significant events. Elder L. C. Patrick was added to the National Sunday School. However, in 1996, the umbrella format was revised under the administration of Bishop C.D. [5] He officially retired on March 19, 2021, and was succeeded by Bishop J. The Holy Spirit is the agent that equips, empowers, leads, and guides the church until the return of Christ. It can be spoken of as the individual and the collective, physical and spiritual. COGIC also teaches that all the spiritual gifts are for believers today. His pastor and mentor was Bishop F. D. Washington of Brooklyn, NY. [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. [61] Finally, she changed the visible presence of women in ministry with the introduction of the ministry "habit". [20], The first national tabernacle was built and completed in 1925. 1st Assistant Presiding Bishop Bishop Jerry W. Macklin. Desiring to learn more about the work of the Holy Spirit in the church, C. H. Mason, J. 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. This list may not reflect recent changes . In November 2012, Bishop Blake was re-elected again to serve a four-year term as the Presiding Bishop. 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. 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 rope that holds the shaft together represents Charles Harrison Mason, COGIC's founding father. Mason was given authority to lead the new denomination. Patterson established protocols of worship, policy and practices. President, International Youth Department Superintendent Nathaniel Green. Assistant General Treasurer Bishop Kendall Anderson. 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. There was the creation of the Sunday School Field Representative. 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. The ordinances of the church are water baptism by immersion, the Lord's Supper and foot washing. Overseer E.R. Succession of COGIC Leaders The pair modeled the pastor and wife ministry team in COGIC. A. Blackwell, E. M. Blackwell, E. M. Page, R. H. I. Clark, D. J. 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). 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. The current president of the Missions Department is Bishop Vincent Mathews Jr. of South Africa.