Church Of God The Bishops

The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), the first major denomination to spring from the fires of the Azusa Street revival, profoundly affected the history of the black church. Its tremendous influence can be traced to the dynamic spiritual life of its founder, Charles Harrison Mason. The son of a slave and a leader in the holiness movement of his day, Mason traveled to Azusa Street in 1907 where he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Returning home, he discovered that visions, spontaneous healing and deliverance followed him. A new power accompanied his preaching, and he experienced freedom from former limitations. Mason’s vibrant spiritual life enabled him to lead a fledgling movement from its infancy to a powerful, prophetic community over the next fifty years. Beginning in the rural South in the decades following the Reconstruction Era, the denomination gradually moved into urban areas during the 1900’s. No matter where its ministers, however, the COGIC Church holds in tension the dynamics of holiness, spiritual encounter and prophetic Christian social consciousness. Facing the challenges of our generation, the COGIC Church desires to maintain the legacy of its founder as it prepares for another century of work and witness. "Our younger generations need to know the rich legacy bequeathed to them by the pioneers of the Church of God in Christ." Presiding Bishop Chandler D. Owens "Every pastor in our denomination and beyond should have a worn and well­ read copy of this book." Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr. "This valuable book should be in the hands of every member of the Church of God in Christ." Bishop C. L. Anderson "God gave Bishop C. H. Mason an anointing to preach powerfully, to heal the sick, and to sing out in spontaneous worship. May we covet the same anointing that transformed thousands in his day." Bishop J. Neaul Haynes "We are the descendants of a mighty move of God that began at Azusa Street. This book will help us to pass on an equally dynamic spiritual life to our successors, taking the Church of God in Christ into the next century." Bishop P. A. Brooks "Church leaders would do well to emulate the dynamic spiritual life of our founder; Bishop C. H. Mason." Bishop O. T. Jones, Jr. "Bishop Clemmons reminds us that our denomination was forged in the fires of a pentecostal revival that continues to impact our society today." Bishop Gilbert E. Patterson "Our roots establish our legacy and provide the springboard for the future. This documentation is a must for this generation and the generations to come." Mother Emma F. Crouch, Supervisor, Women's Department, Church of God in Christ, President, International Women's Convention "This is must reading for every seminary student preparing to minister in the Church of God in Christ. This will be extremely valuable to students of church history regardless of denomination." Dr. H. Vinson Synan, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Divinity, Regent University "Finally, a documentary written by a black historian/theologian and a lifelong member of the Church of God in Christ. Bishop Clemmons' perspective is in­sightful, informative, and refreshing." Dr. William C. Turner, Ph.D., Professor of Theology, Duke Divinity School, Duke University "Allow Bishop C. H. Mason's vision to grip you, to challenge you, and to change you." Raymond C. Pierce, J.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

Shares uplifting advice about the virtues of forgiveness, offering strategic and biblically based advice on how to achieve peace and personal fulfillment by letting go of past wrongs.

Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.

In this day when Christians and churches are widely dispersed throughout the world, the ques- tion ‘Who is the church?’ could easily be dismissed as irrelevant. In this publication, Bishop David Zac Niringiye pleads that as Jesus warned, we should not be in haste to conclude that any community with religious titles or forms and who speaks the right language of ‘Lord, Lord . . . ’ is authentic church. Taking his cue from Hebrews 11 and 12 the author addresses the motif of ‘the people of God’, looking first at the ancient people of Israel, beginning with Moses, then the new Israel and the covenant in Christ, born through the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and finally the life of the new community, the church, during the apostolic era. Through this biblical journey it is made clear that as the pilgrim people of God and the new community in Christ we must be marked by faith, love and hope, looking forward to the full consummation of the kingdom of God – justice, peace and joy, fully realized when ‘the new heaven and the new earth where righteousness dwells’ (2 Peter 3:13) is inaugurated.

Answers to frequently asked questions about Bishop C.H. Mason and the General Assembly of the Church of God in Christ.

Follow God's process for growth and find hope in life's darkest moments with Bishop T.D. Jakes' uplifting stories and advice from his own faith journey. In this insightful book, #1 New York Times bestselling author T.D. Jakes wrestles with age-old questions: Why do the righteous suffer? Where is God in all the injustice? In his most personal offering yet, Bishop Jakes tells crushing stories from his own journey -- the painful experience of learning his young teenage daughter was pregnant, the agony of watching his mother succumb to Alzheimer's, and the shock and helplessness he felt when his son had a heart attack. Bishop Jakes wants to show you how God uses difficult, crushing experiences to prepare you for unexpected blessings. If you are faithful through suffering, you will be surprised by God's joy, comforted by His peace, and fulfilled with His purpose. Crushing will inspire you to have hope, even in your most difficult moments. If you trust in God and lean on Him during setbacks, He will lead you through.

The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), an African American Pentecostal denomination founded in 1896, has become the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States today. In this first major study of the church, Anthea Butler examines the religious and social lives of the women in the COGIC Women's Department from its founding in 1911 through the mid-1960s. She finds that the sanctification, or spiritual purity, that these women sought earned them social power both in the church and in the black community. Offering rich, lively accounts of the activities of the Women's Department founders and other members, Butler shows that the COGIC women of the early decades were able to challenge gender roles and to transcend the limited responsibilities that otherwise would have been assigned to them both by churchmen and by white-dominated society. The Great Depression, World War II, and the civil rights movement brought increased social and political involvement, and the Women's Department worked to make the "sanctified world" of the church interact with the broader American society. More than just a community of church mothers, says Butler, COGIC women utilized their spiritual authority, power, and agency to further their contestation and negotiation of gender roles in the church and beyond.

Compiled during the early years of the Reformation, Institution of a Christian Man lays out the principles of the nascent Church of England. In his definitive new edition, Gerald Bray charts the development of this text from the first version introduced by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and his cohort of bishops, to the extensive edits made by Henry VIII himself, and finally to the version written by Bishop Edmund Bonner under the radically different circumstances of Mary I's reign. By combining the Bishops' Book and the King's Book into a single text - rather than in sequence - Bray shows which sections were added, deleted, and retained throughout the revisions. This process allows the Reader to reconstruct the texts and, at the same time, follow the process by which one was transformed into the other. Bishop Bonner's Book, which appears separately, illustrates additional changes and elaborations from the previous two books. Such a comparative study in a user-friendly and accessible style has never been published before. Although written nearly 500 years ago, much of what these books pronounce is still valid and can be addressed to contemporary use. A thorough analysis of content also sheds light on a neglected phase of the Reformation, and provides a unique insight into the theological development that characterised the earliest stages of the Church of England.