Holy Temple COGIC was the first church to open its doors to the garbage workers. The Church of God in Christ elects Bishop J. Drew Sheard as its new Each jurisdictional bishop appoints a jurisdictional supervisor to lead the work of the women on a jurisdictional level. [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. In 2010, Bishop Blake led more than 50,000 delegates to the 103rd International Holy Convocation to St. Louis, Missouri. [32], Bishop Chandler David Owens Sr. was elected Presiding Bishop after the death of Bishop Ford in 1995. He was a strong advocate for social justice. The general assembly meets biannually each year in April and November while the presidium acts as the executive branch of the church, overseeing the day-to-day operation when the general assembly is not in session. However, his out-spoken criticism of the racial prejudice and discrimination of whites led most, if not all of them, to leave his church for other ministries where the message against racism was not so obvious and offensive to them. Youth on a Mission (YOAM) a ministry of young people visiting the mission field to serve each summer. 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. They unanimously chose C.H. Finding two groups of women in the church, one group praying known as the Prayer Band, the other group studying and teaching the Word known as the Bible Band, she combined the two under the name of the Prayer and Bible Band. She led its expansion and emphasized high academic standards, disciplined behavior, and prayer. In a November 2007 special election, he was elected to complete the unexpired term of his predecessor as Presiding Bishop. He led a group of students to participate in the March on Selma. Not everyone in the church were willing to accept "speaking in tongues" as the initial evidence of baptism of the Holy Ghost. Drew Sheard was born on January 1, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan, to Bishop and Mrs. John Henry Sheard. During the 1950s and 60s, during the height of the civil rights movement, COGIC ministers and congregations played host to many significant events. 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 most active women's auxiliaries include: Missionary Circle, Hospitality, Executive Hospitality, Hulda Club, Wide Awake Band, Minister's Wives Circle, Deaconess, Deacon's Wives Circle, Prayer Warriors, Young Women's Christian Council, Usher Board, Educational Committee, Boy's League, Big Brothers, Cradle Roll, Women's Chorus, Board of Examiners, Public Relations, News Reporters and the Burners Home and Foreign Mission Bands. She also established a musical program. National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Church of Universal Triumph, Dominion of God, Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas, Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ, United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God, Incorporated, Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America, Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation, Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, Original Church of God or Sanctified Church, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Edward_Blake_Sr.&oldid=1138808010, People from Los Angeles County, California, Presiding Bishops of the Church of God in Christ, African-American television personalities, Interdenominational Theological Center alumni, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, April, 2007, November 2008, November 2012, November 2016, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 19:00. 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. 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. 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. 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]. Assistant General Treasurer Bishop Kendall Anderson. 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. After being removed from the office of Senior Bishop, he remained the Jurisdictional Bishop of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania until his death in 1972. According to the press release, The COGIC General Assembly, the legislat All officers are elected by the General Assembly. It is one of the largest gathering of Christian women from any major denomination and religious organization. They have three children and eight grandchildren. COGIC policies and bylaws have also been established regarding sexual misconduct of COGIC clergy and laymembers for disciplinary purposes. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, as COGIC continued to grow to millions of members nationwide, COGIC ministers all over the country continued to advance civil rights in their communities. In 1918, COGIC opened its first institution of higher learning, the Saints Industrial and Literary School in Lexington, Mississippi, for both girls and boys. In 1955, Emmett Till's funeral was held at Robert's Temple Church Of God in Christ in Chicago, Illinois. Patterson, former presiding bishop of the Church of God In Christ.. [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. [47], COGIC teaches that the church is the community of Christian believers who have accepted Jesus Christ and submit to his Lordship and authority in their lives. Succession of Church of God in Christ Leaders. Patterson, the nephew of the above-mentioned Bishop J.O. It ultimately ended by 1930, when the Depression set in. The racial climate in the post WWI years, when there was high competition for jobs and housing and violent unrest in many cities in 1919, would not sustain this relationship. In the 1990's and early 2000's, Blake also penned articles for Ebony and Christianity Today noting the importance of the Black Church's influence on presidential elections and American politics and society in general. His passion for meeting the needs of the whole man reaches globally through his humanitarian efforts. He is credited with systematically restructuring church departments and ministries, expanding the church in Asia, primarily India and the Philippines, and placing the COGIC on a solid financial status. In 1945, Bishop S. Crouch of the Northern California Jurisdiction appointed Elder H. C. Johnson as State Sunday School Superintendent who appointed Missionary Lucille Cornelius to be Chairlady, the first woman to lead the supervision of COGIC women in the Sunday School Department. 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. The general assembly is the supreme authority over the church to decide matters of faith and practice. Male as well as female evangelists were instrumental in spreading COGIC throughout the United States as well as around the world. B. McEwen, Bishop J. S. Bailey, and Bishop O. M. Kelly as his assistants. Vice Chairman of the Board of Bishops Bishop Roger L. Jones. 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. Mother Dorothy Exume#, foreign missionary, Evangelist Reatha D. Herndon#, first and longest-serving elect Lady, church organizer, national evangelist, Supervisor Deola Wells Johnson, national evangelist, jurisdictional supervisor, Evangelist Maria Gardner Langston, COGIC pastor, national evangelist, former Elect Lady, Mother Elsie Washington Mason#, third and final wife of Bishop Mason, Mother Lelia Washington Mason#, second wife of Bishop Mason. 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. We believe that the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, according to Acts 2:4, is given to believers who ask for it. In 1984 and 1988 respectively, Rev. Mason. She developed the role of the State Minister of Music and traveled the world conducting seminars and workshops perfecting the quality of choir music, their performance, appearance and demeanor, and the COGIC sound. (RNS) A Detroit bishop of the Church of God in Christ has been named the new presiding bishop of the nation's largest historically Black Pentecostal . 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. They were given the authority through a "gentlemen's agreement" to license ministers and establish churches under the COGIC name. Bishop Sheard is married to Evangelist Karen Clark Sheard. In 1964 however, disagreement between the authority of the Senior Bishop and the executive board, led by Bishop A. 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. Under her leadership and tenure, COGIC choirs and individual singers came to dominate gospel music producing a number of recordings and gospel hits. General Secretary Bishop Joel H. Lyles Jr.. Chairman of the General Assembly Bishop Lemuel F. Thuston. 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. G iving to the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) fell by nearly 50 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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. COGIC considers any physical, sexual relationship outside of the sanctity of marriage to be outside of the sovereign will of God and unbiblical. Her life story led many African-Americans into the Holiness movement, including Mason. 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. There was the creation of the Sunday School Field Representative. Church Of God In Christ, Inc. 2015-23. Founder 1907-1961* Senior Bishop & Chief Apostle Charles Harrison Mason: . Built in the 1940s during World War II, the nearly 4000-seat building was the largest church auditorium of any African-American religious group in the United States. We believe the Bible to be the inspired and only infallible written Word of God. Hall Sr. Board member (2021present). During his administration, Battles organized Regions to oversee evangelistic ministry in various regional areas across the country. In 2010 Superintendent J. Michigan Chronicle Endorses Bishop J. Drew Sheard for Re-election to He was assassinated the next day, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.[54]. 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. COGIC teaches that because God uses conception through and after sexual reproduction and intercourse to create human life, that willfully aborting a human fetus is contrary to God's Word and Christian ethics, and it is considered to be a sin against God and the Bible within the denomination. [7] The leadership of the Mississippi State Convention of the National Baptist Convention intervened and expelled Jones, Mason, and others who embraced the Wesleyan teaching of entire sanctification. Chairman of the National Judiciary Board Bishop Martin Luther Johnson. The Church of God in Christ will host the installation service of Rev. It was also around this time, that he married his wife, Mae Lawrence Blake, a native of Michigan and daughter of another COGIC bishop and pastor, and they had three children together, Charles Blake, Jr., Lawrence "Larry" Blake, and Kimberly Blake. [44], COGIC teaches that salvation is the work of redemption to the sinner and his restoration to divine favor and communion with God. They exist today as adversaries to the kingdom, purpose and will of God. She was the Jurisdictional Supervisor of Women for Texas Southwest Jurisdiction under the late Bishop T. D. Iglehart. A general supervisor of women is appointed by the presiding bishop and given authority to lead the International Women's Ministry of the church. [15], COGIC originated among African Americans in the Southern states of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee. In his first year as Presiding Bishop in 2021, in order to combat debt that the church had accrued from previous years, Bishop Sheard helped to launch the "I Love My Church" Initiative, which was a massive fundraising campaign that helped the COGIC denomination to pay off much of its debts, renovate and refurbish its headquarters church, Mason Temple, establish housing complexes for low-income families throughout Shelby County, Tennessee near the church's headquarters, and purchased a former Catholic nunnery convent in Memphis to provide housing for single mothers affected by health challenges, disabilities, teen pregnancies, and domestic violence. Recognizing the significance of women to the ministry, COGIC has created numerous positions that allow women to work as counterparts to the department presidents as chair ladies (YPWW) and Elect ladies (Evangelism). When she died in 1945, she had laid an impressive foundation for the women's ministry in COGIC. Of special note is Evangelist Reatha Herndon who served as the International Elect Lady of the Department of Evangelism from 1951 to 2001. During the 1990s, President Bill Clinton was invited by then COGIC Presiding Bishop, Louis Henry Ford to attend the International Holy Convocation. 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. Chairman of AIM Bishop Linwood Dillard. Church mothers have historically served as the leader of the women's ministries in the local congregations. In 1968, Two sanitation workers who were also COGIC members, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death in a garbage compactor where they were taking shelter from the rain. The 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. Today however, many church mothers have been reserved to titular positions as many pastor's wives have assumed the role of leader of women's ministries in local congregations. She revolutionized and reorganized the music ministry to become a leading department in the church. It also increasingly stressed high academic standards so that its graduates could go to normal school or college, especially to teach other African Americans. Upon his return to Jackson, Mississippi, Mason faced opposition when he recounted his experience. In 2009 he was appointed as a member of Barack Obama's Inaugural Advisory Council of the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships where he served for one year on the council. The study also found that over 70% of COGIC members overwhelmingly opposed the legalizing of same-sex marriage, and considered relationships from infidelity, polygamy, polyamory, and sex outside of marriage as sinful and unbiblical as well.[56]. Bishop Prince E. W. Bryant Sr. Board member (2021present). Secretary of the General Council of Pastors and Elders Superintendent Prince W. Bryant, II. It includes not only those who are members of COGIC, but all believers who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome to the Official Church Of God In Christ, Inc Online Store Dismiss. On June 5, 1951, he selected Bishop A. He is credited with helping to secure the steel needed to construct Mason Temple which was virtually impossible during World War II.[52]. His ministry spanned more than seven decades. [49] The church does not practice infant baptisms or christenings, but does conduct baby dedications in formal ceremonies. Green. Many Holiness Christian groups and fellowships forming at the time wanted biblical names for their local churches and fellowships, such as "Church of God, Church of Christ, or Church of the Living God". In 1946, the National Sunday School Congress began to meet with the Young People's Willing Workers (YPWW) Congress. [53], In 1965, during the March to Selma, a young COGIC minister Charles E. Blake, (previous COGIC Presiding Bishop) was studying at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, GA. He referred in his sermon to gay men as "sissies", "perverted and lost", and said, "If you want to feel like a girl; I wish God would give you the monthly of a girl; I wish He had you bleeding out of your butt. 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). It is a separate and distinct work of grace that occurs in the lives of believers after conversion. The following 4 pages are in this category, out of 4 total. 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. Later in 1897, while in Little Rock, Arkansas, C. H. Mason stated that God had given him such a name for the group, the "Church of God in Christ". Education was considered key to advancement of the race. 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. There is a presiding bishop, known as the chief apostle of the church. Patterson, Evangelist Joyce L Rodgers#, Jurisdictional Supervisor, Former Chairlady of Youth Dept., international evangelist, Dr. Lytia R. Howard, Emeritus, President of the Sunshine Band, COGIC Pastor, Mother Leatha Herndon Chapman Tucker#, church organizer, national evangelist, Mother Elizabeth White#, foreign missionary, Dr. Rita Womack, national evangelist, former Elect Lady, Mother Willa Mary Collins#, founding First Lady of Holy Trinity Church of God in Christ in Evansville, Indiana. Adjutant General Bishop Dickerson L. S. Wells Sr.. General Supervisor, Department of Women Mother Barbara McCoo Lewis. As COGIC continued to grow, the various departments began the practice of convening annually to conduct the business unique of their ministries. 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* Secretary of the Board of Bishops Bishop William Watson, III. COGIC Bishop Alvin A. Childs of the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ (later renamed Child's Memorial in his honor) was the clergyman who finally opened his doors. The denomination considers these to be inconsistent with COGIC doctrine and teaching. ", 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. 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. Humanity can only be restored through salvation offered only through Jesus Christ. COGIC believes in divine healing, however, it does not advocate the exclusion of medical supervision. 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. Succession of COGIC Leaders COGIC became a staple of gospel music under the guidance and leadership of Dr. Mattie Moss Clark. 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. In 2000, he was elected as the Presiding Bishop of COGIC. Drew Sheard June 22 and the consecration service for the jurisdictional and auxiliary bishop designates June 23, 2021. . Washington, Bishop Chandler D. Owens, Bishop Brandon B. Porter, and Bishop J. More:J. [11] In 2016, Bishop Blake was appointed as the Co-Chairperson to the leadership council of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America. 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. 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. Bishop Brandon B. Porter Secretary to the General Board (2021present) and board member (2012present). The early conventions of the Evangelist Board were basically crusades led by Page and a few other Evangelists from across the country. His testimony "literally went viral, and brought upon him criticism and sardonicism. We believe that there is One God, eternally existent in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Blake, Sr. and the late Evangelist Lula M. Blake. In 1968, COGIC established the C.H. During his visit, Mason received the baptism of the Holy Ghost; the evidence was believed to be his "speaking in other tongues", in accordance with the biblical account found in the book of Acts 2:4. 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. As a result, many local congregations, foreign missions, and schools were established through the leadership and efforts of women in COGIC. [citation needed] Bishop Ford is credited with inviting President Bill Clinton, a personal friend, to speak to the Eighty-Sixth International Holy Convocation on November 13, 1993. 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. The Youth Congress eventually become one of the largest conventions in COGIC. "[90] This excerpt of Elder Carter's sermon went viral throughout social media and was picked up by major television news broadcasts. 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. [1] [2] Early life [ edit] The church has more than 3,000 churches in Asia, and 2,000 churches in the Caribbean and South America. [19], Mason continued to travel across the nation preaching and establishing COGIC churches. In 1976, under the leadership of Bishop J.O. This seasonal period was selected because most of the COGIC members were farmers and were finished harvesting their crops around this time. She also established the Mattie McGlothen Library and Museum in Richmond, California, as a resource for COGIC historical facts and memorabilia. Mother Willie Mae Rivers served faithfully for 20 years as General Mother until 2017 and the age of 91. 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.