Church of God in Christ

Mason was a licensed Baptist minister in Arkansas in the 1890s who was disfellowshiped by the local Baptist association for preaching Holiness doctrines. He became associated with a group of men who would become the early African American leaders of the Holiness Movement in the late 19th century. Charles Price Jones of Jackson, Mississippi, J. A. Jeter of Little Rock, Arkansas and W. S. Pleasant of Hazelhurst, Mississippi were a few of these early Holiness leaders. Many revivals were conducted leading to the establishment in Jackson, Mississippi of a new church when the first convocation was held in 1897. While seeking a name to distinguish this Holiness organization, Mason believed that the name Church of God was divinely revealed and biblically supported. The Church would be reorganized with Jones as General Overseer, Mason as Overseer of Tennessee, and Jeter as Overseer of Arkansas.

In 1907, Jeter and Jones rejected Mason's teaching on the baptism in the Holy Spirit, resulting in a mutual separation. Jones continued to lead his adherents as a Holiness church, changing the name in 1915 to the Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. Mason called a conference in Memphis, Tennessee, known as the Holy Convocation and reorganized the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) as a Holiness-Pentecostal body. The COGIC was the first Pentecostal body to be incorporated and this gave it advantages that other Pentecostal groups did not have.

It was during these formative years that Mason credentialed both whites and African Americans who would subsequently become leaders within other Pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God USA, the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, and the United Pentecostal Church International. Because of the COGIC's incorporated status, this gave its credentials a legal recognition that many Pentecostal ministers desired. By the time the Assemblies of God was founded in 1914, there were over 350 white ministers licensed through the COGIC.

The first national tabernacle was built and completed in 1925. This tabernacle was destroyed by fire in 1936. In 1945 Mason dedicated Mason Temple in Memphis as the church's national meeting site. Built in 1940 during World War II, its construction was a benchmark effort by a group of African-Americans during that period. It became the largest Black-owned church auditorium in America during the 1940s. The historic church auditorium is the location of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's final message to the world. He delivered "I've been to the Mountaintop" speech from the pulpit of Mason Temple.

In recent years, the COGIC and the Assemblies of God have dedicated themselves to reconciling and healing the two organizations, which separated on racial lines in 1914, by working together in common ministries. Two signs of this reconciliation and healing are the 1994 Memphis Miracle and the School of Urban Missions of Oakland, California operated jointly by both denominations.

[ see less ]