Bishop C.H. Mason

The Church Of God In Christ celebrates the birth of our founder, Bishop Charles Harrison Mason on Wednesday, September 8, 2010. Bishop Mason’s unfeigned loyalty to God and unwavering leadership to the church infused and imparted a Pentecostal sagacity that has empowered millions. His quintessential labor and epical legacy enveloped a global prototype for religious leaders and the entire COGIC populace.  His mantle is too enormous for one denomination or community of believers. Bishop Mason’s exaltation in worship, prayerful idioms, and numinous disposition ascended the COGIC worship experience and embodied the worship style recognized by world religions and all mainstream American denominations.

Bishop Mason’s homily encircled a holiness code of behavior embracing sanctification and Pentecostalism. He adamantly directed any personal adulation to God our Father, Christ our Redeemer, and the Holy Ghost our Comforter. His epitaphic inscription of “Yes, Lord” continues to surface in congregations everywhere and echoes through the corridors of our spirit in word and song.

Although, he was born during the emancipation era with humble beginnings, his heritage was rich with benevolence, witness, tangible anointing and ministry impact which engendered spiritual liberation and religious excellence that would stand as the hallmark of not only this great man of God, but of the reformation that he would found. The Church Of God In Christ honors all of our patriarchs and matriarchs, and esteems the global proportion of our founder’s labor. With double honor, we salute and respect the sainted work of Bishop Charles Harrison Mason.

The COGIC Call to Catechism, Celebration and Stewardship

Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake has inspired the COGIC community to embrace urban initiatives through an insightful and strategic plan.  These multi-faceted initiatives envelopes five core areas which include; education, economic development, crime, family, and financial literacy that address contemporary issues in our community. The Church Of God In Christ is recognized as the 4^th largest religious reformation in America. Our tradition and polity encircles transparency, developmental stability, and historic preservation. The church’s biblical foundational tenets provide a plethora of ministry opportunities and an array of institutional deliverables. COGIC presence has positively impacted every major U. S. urban population with a diversity of ministries and community enhancing outreach provided by over 12,000 active congregations. 

 Our divinely inspired global mandate to provide vision casting, ministry development, technical support, and best practice dialogue, has propelled our denomination to convene frequent, powerful, confabulations and leadership development opportunities that have enhanced communities through out this nation. These sessions analyze our denominational modus operandi, ensure organizational compliance, and identify obtainable resources for ministries. Church leaders are entrusted to vanguard our heritage and promote biblical conformity through empowering ministry opportunities. COGIC leadership symposiums are convened to enlighten our presbytery and inculcate cutting edge methods and best practices to accomplish our Presiding Bishop’s desired ministry outcomes.

Bishop C. H. Mason Founder’s and Loyalty Day

Schedule of Events

Founder’s Day Celebration and Laity Reporting

Wednesday, September 8, 2010 

 Leadership Empowerment Symposium

(COGIC Credential Holders Only)

12:00 PM – 3:00PM

The Memphis Downtown Marriott Hotel- Heritage Halls I-IV

250 N. Main, Memphis, TN 38103

COGIC International Administrative Headquarters John Lee Building Dedication

(Open to the General Public)

5:00 PM

Mason Temple Campus

930 Mason Street, Memphis, TN 38136

Bishop C.H. Mason Founder’s Day Denominational Celebration

(Open to the General Public)

7:00 PM

Mason Temple

930 Mason Street, Memphis, TN 38136

The COGIC Leadership Empowerment Symposium and Luncheon

Adjutant General Bishop Matthew Williams and Bishop Dwight Haygood

Moderators: Bishop L. F.  Thuston – Bishop Cody Marshall-Bishop Felton Smith

The Call to Celebrate                                                           Bishop P. A. Brooks

The Devotional                                                                     Evangelism and Music Departments

The Historic Involvement of Women in Ministry             Mother Willie Mae Rivers

                                                                                                 (Voice of Mother Lizzie Robinson)

The Founder’s Collaborative and Inclusive Mission     Bishop DeWitt Burton

Our Faith Focus                                                                    COGIC Impact

Bishop Samuel Iglehart                                                       Bishop Edward Robinson

                                                                                                  Bishop Chandler Owens

Our Cultural Heritage                                                         COGIC Presence

Bishop Jewel Whithers, Jr.                                                  Bishop Martin Luther Johnson

                                                                                                 Bishop Nathaniel Wells

Our Pursuit for excellence through Biblical Principals COGIC Potential

                                                                                                 Supt. Matthew Brown

                                                                                                 Bishop Donald Alford

                                                                                                 Bishop Jerry Macklin

The Episcopal Charge                                                        Presiding Bishop C. E. Blake, Sr.

Expeditor                                                                                Bishop Jerry Maynard

The Commission                                                                 Bishop Roy Winbush

The Prayer for the Nations                                                  Bishop George McKinney

Church Of God In Christ

International Administrative Headquarters John Lee Building

Episcopal Designation and Building Dedication

The Inspirational Melodies     

The Invocation                                                              Bishop Frank White

The Reading of the Gospel                                       Supervisor Mary Tucker

The Historic overview of John Lee                           Mrs. Mary Patterson and Descendants of Mr. John Lee

The Occasion                                                               Bishop Albert Galbreaith

The Reflections                                                            Bishop John Sheard

The Act of Dedication                                                  Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr.

The Acknowledgements                                            Bishop Hollis Musgrove

The Benediction                                                           Pastor Ron Owens

Denominational Worship Honoring the birth of Bishop Charles Harrison Mason

7:00 PM

Moderators: Bishop J. Neaul Haynes, Bishop Brandon Porter and Supt. Milton Hawkins

The Call to Worship                                                    Voice of Bishop Charles H. Mason

The Invocation                                                              Bishop James Scott

The Reading of the Psalms                                      Assistant Supervisor Sylvia Law

The Old Time Gospel Hour

Tri-State Music Departments, Regional Intercessors, Mother Daisy Jones, Mother Romanetha Stallsworth, Bishop AT Moore Heritage Singers and Pastor Carl Pierce

The Pentecostal Message                                         Bishop Albert Galbraith

The Recognitions                                                        Bishop Sedgwick Daniels

                                                                                        Temple COGIC, Dr. David Hall

Greater Harvest COGIC/South Fort Pickering, Elder Lee Ward

The Mason Family Acknowledgement                     Bishop Wilbur Hamilton

The Familial Salute                                                      Mother Ruth Mason-Lewis and Bishop J. O Patterson, Jr.

The Musical Selection                                                 C. H. Mason Memorial Choir

The Ministry of Giving                                                   Bishop Jerry Maynard and Bishop Samuel Lowe

The Presiding Bishop Speaks                                   Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr.

The Musical Selection                                                 C. H. Mason Memorial Choir

The Celebration Homily                                              Bishop Frank Anderson

The Reporting                                                               Supt. Frank A. White

The Benediction                                                           Bishop Samuel Green

CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST

2010 Founder’s Day Celebration

Honoring the Life and Legacy

Of

Bishop Charles Harrison Mason

John Lee Administrative Headquarters Dedication

And

COGIC Laity Recognition

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Downtown Memphis Marriott Hotel and Mason Campus

Memphis, TN

Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr. Presiding Bishop

“For ye brethren became followers of the Churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for ye have suffered like things of your own countrymen even as they have of the Jews.” I Thessalonians 2:14

Bishop P.A. Brooks Celebrates 35 years as Jurisdictional Bishop

Written by Niketa Woodley   

A Civic and Ecumenical Tribute Brunch celebrating Bishop P.A. Brook’s thirty-five years as a Jurisdictional Bishop, apostolic leader, and visionary will be held in the Stafford Hall of the Cathedral Conference Center on July 31, 2010 from 11a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

It was 1975 when the late Presiding Bishop, J.O. Patterson, consecrated Bishop P.A. Brooks as Jurisdictional Bishop over what is now called Michigan’s Historic First Jurisdiction, “Northeast.” Since that time, Bishop P.A. Brooks has become known as a trusted and respected ecclesiastical voice of influence around the world.

When he was consecrated as Jurisdictional Bishop thirty-five years ago, Bishop Brooks was the founder and pastor of New St. Paul Tabernacle, Church of God in Christ. As the pastor of New St. Paul Tabernacle, he has led with integrity and gentleness, making himself available and approachable to all of his members. Fulfilling the great commission of Christ and equipping the people of God to aim higher in their faith is and has always been his main goal. His induction to the office of Bishop intensified his apostolic mission allowing him to connect to thousands of souls in the ministry.

His faithfulness to God and the ministry was hard not to notice. In 1984, just nine years after his ascension to bishop, he was elected a member of the General Board, the governing board of the Churches of God in Christ, Internationally. He is the second longest serving member to date.

In 2008, Bishop Brooks was chosen by Presiding Bishop, Charles E. Blake, to serve as First Assistant Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ International. This esteemed honor made Bishop Brooks the Vice President to the Presiding Bishop. “Of the decisions that I made as presiding bishop, one of the wisest and best decisions was the decision to appoint Bishop Brooks… he is a source of so much counsel, so much wisdom, so much maturity,” said the Presiding Bishop during a visit in 2008 to Detroit for the Northeast Michigan State Holy Convocation. 

As a visionary, Bishop Brooks organized a coalition of Episcopal leaders called the Michigan Canadian Council of Bishops to support the office of the Presiding bishop. Throughout his tenure, he has established churches, appointed and trained many great leaders including other bishops. He is entrusted to handle some of the most sensitive matters and travels to some of the most significant places throughout the Churches of God in Christ and worldwide. Of the 102 years of the institution of the Church of God in Christ, Bishop P.A. Brooks has faithfully served fifty-five of those years.

A tribute book marking Bishop Brook’s beginnings from a young superintendent eager to serve in ministry to the First Assistant Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, International will be available to the guests who attend the brunch.

Visit www.nspt.com for further information regarding this celebration

Photo by The Commercial Appeal

WASHINGTON, DC

– Tuesday, June 2, 2010,  Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr. and senior women’s leader Mother Willie Mae Rivers of the Church of God in Christ accepted the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) 2010 Marriage Protector Award.

Bishop Blake is the worldwide leader of the Church Of God In Christ (COGIC), and Mother Rivers is the senior women’s leader. COGIC is one of the largest African-American denominations in the United States, and has a worldwide membership of 5 million people in 60 countries.

The award was given to acknowledge “the steadfast witness of the Church of God in Christ in defending marriage as the union of husband and wife.”

NOM Chairman Maggie Gallagher presented the award at the 60th Annual Womens International Convention/Crusade of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) at the Los Angeles Convention Center. “We are blessed by your courage, your clarity, and your conviction,” Gallagher conveyed to COGIC.

“I am here to present an award, but the honor is really ours–to acknowledge with gratitude the contributions of COGIC in standing for the truth that to make a marriage you need a husband and wife. At a time when so many powerful voices argue that this idea is rooted only in hatred and bigotry, we are blessed by your witness to the truth, which is really God’s truth, about marriage,” Maggie Gallagher told the assembled 20,000 African-American women and COGIC bishops, and other church leaders.

The 9^th annual COGIC Men Perfecting Men’s Conference will be held this week in the Chicago area.  The Doubletree Hotel (9599 Skokie Blvd. Skokie, IL) will be the host site for the day sessions.  Freedom Temple COGIC (1459 W. 74^th St. Chicago, IL) will be the host church for the evening services, starting at 7pm. There will be a host of workshops and speakers for the day sessions to be held on Friday, May 7^th. Following the morning workshops, a luncheon will take place. The worship service is open to the public, but registration is required to attend the day sessions.

Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr. will open the conference on Thursday evening with a life changing word. And on Friday evening Conference Director Bishop Darrell L. Hines will deliver the message. The conference will close on Saturday morning with a spirit filled breakfast to be held at the Doubletree Hotel.

The conference’s health and education components have saved the lives of many of those who have participated in the classes designed to address health disparities within the African-American community including heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, etc. 

“God has given the Church Of God in Christ, as well as the entire world a unique opportunity that is shared through the implementation of the vision of our Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr. to impact the lives of men so that there is an obvious demonstration of a financial, physical, social and spiritual metamorphosis, said Bishop Darrell L. Hines.

Members of predominantly African American and Latino churches along Crenshaw Boulevard hold joint services in an effort to overcome differences.

 One is a Pentecostal, mostly African American congregation of 22,000, led by a world-renowned bishop with global ministries that extend to Africa and Haiti.

The other is one of the largest Latino evangelical churches in the city, whose Spanish-language ministries serve more than 4,000 members, most of them Salvadoran and Mexican immigrants and their children.

Located just four blocks apart along Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles, the two mega-churches — West Angeles Church of God in Christ and Iglesias de Restauracion — had never broken bread together, as cultural and linguistic differences kept them apart.

But that all changed Thursday night, when more than 1,500 believers from both churches worshiped together in what organizers billed as a historic attempt to overcome black-brown differences through shared faith and a sacred covenant to jointly address the violence, poverty and health problems that afflict both communities.

“This is the beginning of something great!” West Angeles Bishop Charles E. Blake roared as the crowd whooped and clapped and one person blew a shofar in evening services at his cathedral. “Our languages are different, but our hearts are the same!”

The Rev. Rene Molina, whose Restauracion is affiliated with El Salvador’s largest church of 150,000 followers known as Mission Elim International, spoke in fiery Spanish as his son translated, telling congregants that their shared love for one God trumped all divisions.

The exhilaration was evident in the pews as well. Marlene Morales, a Mexican American teenager, said she was moved by the cross-cultural unity she had never experienced at Carson High School, where she said black-brown segregation, racial slurs and fights are common.

And Pat Campbell, an African American airport security worker who said many of her black friends had left the neighborhood because of the growing Latino presence, said the evening seemed like an answered prayer.

“I’ve been praying for this for a long time,” she said. “I want to get along, work together and break down divisions.”

The unity event, held on the anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, capped two years of what began as careful, tentative outreach between eight black and Latino pastors first brought together by the Rev. Alexia Salvatierra of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. Salvatierra had been working with an evangelical Christian network of 1,200 Latino congregations in Southern California seeking allies in the fight for immigration reform.

During the initial encounters, she said, there were blunt confessions of mistrust between the two sides. African American candor sometimes offended Latinos used to a more indirect communication style. And black traditions of living out Scripture through social action caused unease among some Latino pastors who were taught to keep the spiritual and secular worlds separate, Salvatierra said.

The differences between leaders reflected tensions between their respective communities. Campbell, for example, said many of her African American neighbors grumble about perceived job competition from Latinos and ubiquitous Spanish speaking. And both sides lament the black-brown violence.

In the last six weeks, for instance, police say at least three shootings have occurred between black and Latino gangs in the Crenshaw/West Adams area. One of them resulted in the killing of a Latino passerby.

But Salvatierra said the guiding light that has bonded the pastors’ group — which has blossomed into more than 120 members— is Jesus’ words in John 17:23:

“May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

In a news conference Thursday at Restauracion, pastors from both sides drew parallels in the pain their communities are suffering. The Rev. Norman Copeland, presiding elder for the African Methodist Episcopal Church, spoke of the mutual pain of family separation — for Latinos, through deportations; for blacks, through slavery in the past and incarceration today.

Others cited the lack of good jobs and quality supermarkets in the neighborhood, causing both communities economic distress and health problems, including obesity and diabetes.

Then both congregations filed into Restauracion’s sanctuary, where Blake took the pulpit after lively music reflecting both cultural traditions. Hundreds then streamed down Victoria Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard in a procession, hailed by honking cars, to West Angeles. There, Molina preached as the night came to a euphoric climax.

The next steps have not yet been charted out, but everyone seemed to have ideas for action. Morales and Campbell both cited the need to bring Latino and African American youth together through sports or other activities. Salvatierra threw out the idea of prayer networks to focus on each other’s biggest concerns: blacks praying for Latino families facing deportation; Latinos praying for jobs and stability for African Americans released from prison. Some pastors are proposing a more extended retreat for the two congregations to continue building spiritual bonds.

On Thursday, it seemed momentous enough that the two neighbors had at long last come together.

“Most important is to let people know it doesn’t matter what color you are or language you speak, we can be together,” said Nelson Umana, an El Savador native who works at a Burbank golf course. “We go to the same God.”

Written by Teresa Watanabe of the Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0501-unity-20100501,0,7056938.story

Dear COGIC Students:

As a part of the COGIC Charities efforts to assist members interested in pursuing educational   opportunities, we have expanded the scholarship programs.  In addition to the annual scholarship program, COGIC Charities has partnered with the Auxiliaries in Ministry (AIM) Convention of the Church Of God In Christ, Incorporated and Florida A & M University (FAMU), in providing scholarships to students who will matriculate at FAMU beginning in the Fall of 2010. 

For those students who apply for the FAMU scholarships, please see the attached document, detailing eligibility requirements and instructions for applying.  The earlier you apply, the better your chances are for a scholarship. Scholarships are awarded until the funds are depleted. To find out more about the FAMU Presidential Scholarship Program, log onto www.famu.edu/index.cfm?UniversityScholarships.

For those students who apply for the COGIC Charities scholarships, please see the attached application.  All applications must be mailed to the address indicated and include all of the items listed on the application.  Applications will not be considered unless all information requested is received IN ONE ENVELOPE and postmarked NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 1, 2010. 

We trust that these resources will be a blessing to you and your families as you pursue your educational endeavors. 

Sincerely,

Mother Sylvia Law
Chair, COGIC Charities Scholarship Committee
slaw@cogic.org