Vision To be a community of believers devoted to spreading love and building faith. Get Out — consistent evangelism into surrounding communities Give Out — charitable outreach ministries into surrounding communities Get Obvious — Christian partnering with existing community service agencies What we believe We believe that the Bible is the unadulterated Word of God, unblemished, untainted, and authorized by God.
We believe in the salvation of mankind and that the only way we are saved, according to the Word of God, is by grace through faith alone, It is the gift of God Ephesians 2: We believe in water baptism by immersion and that baptism is a sign to the world that we have entered into a covenant relationship with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection Matthew We believe in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling, the Saint is enabled to live a holy and separated life in this present world John Some suggest that our physical praise is just some drunken emotional expression; however, we believe our praise is a deliberate devotional expression because we were created to give God praise and bring Glory to his name.
Scripture declares that God inhabits the praises of his people Psalm He loves to live in our praise, so it is our duty to build him a place to dwell in with our worship. Below are some of the worship customs you may see in a service. Should you have any questions about anything you see in one of ourworship services, please feel free to ask one of our Elders to explain our customs to you.
Why do we give verbal praise to God? We believe that praise is visible and audible, so in corporate worship we openly express our praise to God. I will bless the Lord at all times , His praises shall continually be in my mouth. God loves it when we sing unto him. Good singing does not come from a good voice, but from a heart that simply loves God, so we encourage everyone to participate in singing songs unto God. Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints. From time to time a worship moment is created where God will download a song directly from heaven into whoever is leading worship.
During these moments, we encourage you to open your hearts and mind and sing the song of the Lord as you embrace this very unique prophetic moment. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Martin Luther King, Jr. The church teaches three separate and distinct works of grace that God performs in the life of believers: The church declares to be evangelical in ministry, fundamental in doctrine and practice and Pentecostal in worship and expression.
The beliefs of the Church of God in Christ are briefly written in its Statement of Faith, which is reproduced below: COGIC teaches the deity of Jesus Christ , his virgin birth , sinless life, physical death , burial , resurrection , ascension and visible return to the earth. Christ is the Head of the church, and He is the only mediator between God and humanity, and there is no salvation in any other.
The Holy Spirit is the agent that equips, empowers, leads, and guides the church until the return of Christ. 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.
They exist primarily in the spiritual realm and are organized according to duty and function. Demons exist as manifestation of evil or unclean spirits. They are fallen angels who joined Satan in his failed attempt to usurp power in Heaven. They exist today as adversaries to the kingdom, purpose and will of God. 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. COGIC teaches that man was created perfect and sinless in the image of God as a tripartite being having a body, soul , and spirit.
Sin originated in eternity when Satan committed open rebellion against God in heaven. Sin was transmitted to humanity when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden , as a result all men have original sin. The result of sin is the depravity of man, broken communion with God, shame and guilt, and physical and spiritual death. Humanity can only be restored through salvation offered only through Jesus Christ. The human soul is immortal and will spend eternity either in heaven as the redeemed or in hell as the damned. COGIC teaches that salvation is the work of redemption to the sinner and his restoration to divine favor and communion with God.
Salvation is an operation of the Holy Spirit upon sinners brought about by repentance toward God, which brings about conversion , faith , justification , and regeneration. COGIC teaches that sanctification is a continuous operation of the Holy Spirit, by which he "delivers the justified sinner from the pollution of sin, renews his whole nature in the image of God and enables him to perform good works". It is a separate and distinct work of grace that occurs in the lives of believers after conversion.
It teaches that sanctification should precede the baptism with the Holy Spirit. COGIC teaches that the baptism of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit is an experience subsequent to conversion and sanctification, can be experienced by all believers who ask for it. 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.
According to the Articles of Religion, "We believe that we are not baptized with the Holy Ghost in order to be saved, but that we are baptized with the Holy Ghost because we are saved". COGIC also teaches that all the spiritual gifts are for believers today. 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.
It can be spoken of as the individual and the collective, physical and spiritual. COGIC teaches that according to the Word of God , there will be final events and conditions that address the end of this present age of the world. These events include physical death, the intermediate state , bodily resurrection , the Second Coming of Christ , the Great Tribulation , the Battle of Armageddon , the Millennial Reign , the Final Judgment , the future of the wicked in hell, and life for the redeemed in heaven.
COGIC believes in divine healing , however, it does not advocate the exclusion of medical supervision. It believes that the gifts of the Spirit are given to believers and are active in the church today. The ordinances of the church are water baptism by immersion, the Lord's Supper and foot washing. As a classical Pentecostal holiness church, COGIC continues to embrace its holiness heritage, teaching moderation in dress, appearance, participation in secular entertainment and prohibitions against profanity, alcohol, substance abuse and immoral behavior. The church has a tradition of prayer, fasting, praise, and consecration that was once unique to Holiness or Pentecostal groups.
Many mainline denominations and countless nondenominational churches that once rejected these beliefs and practices have adopted these distinctions in their worship liturgy and lifestyle practices. COGIC clergy are allowed to be married. Remarriage is highly discouraged, except in the case of the death of a spouse. Divorce is considered inconsistent with biblical teachings and highly discouraged as well.
COGIC considers any physical, sexual relationship outside of the sanctity of marriage to be outside of the sovereign will of God. COGIC clergy do not officially sanction or recognize same-sex relationships to be joined together in marriage. 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: 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.
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. 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.
In July 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 , a pro-life anti-abortion advocacy group, from for a three-year initiative to encourage COGIC pastors and ministers to encourage pro-life anti-abortion advocacy in their local churches. 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.
The three-year-initiative with The Human Coalition is also supposed to encourage local COGIC clergy leaders across the United States, both male and female, to partner up with other anti-abortion advocacy groups and Christian ministries to lobby for more anti-abortion restrictions throughout local states. Pentecostals have been criticized because of their noticeable absence for the official record of activism that has been largely overshadowed by black ministers of other denominations such as Baptists and Methodists, however, there is irrefutable evidence to verify and document the role and response of COGIC ministers and other Pentecostals to the cause and struggle for Civil Rights.
As previously stated, COGIC although predominately black, had a significant white membership during its first decade of existence, with a number of white ministers holding leadership positions in the church. However, after the meeting in Hot Springs and the founding of the Assemblies of God, the white constituency of COGIC continued to decline, until it was almost nonexistent by the s.
Bishop Mason taught COGIC members against going to war, but more so he was against African-American men being called to fight a war overseas for freedom and then coming home and being treated as second-class citizens and being lynched in their uniforms. During the forties and fifties, Bishop Mason often invited the white elected officials of the city of Memphis to the International Holy Convocation on Civic Night. However his out-spoken criticism of racial prejudice of whites led most if not all of them to leave his church for other ministries where the message of against racism was not so obvious and offensive to them.
Delk who remained in the church after many whites had left, was very active in politics in Missouri and worked to promote civil rights by writing legislatures and petitioning the federal government on the behalf of COGIC. He is credited with helping to secure the steel needed to construct Mason Temple which was virtually impossible during WW II.
During the fifties and sixties, during the height of the civil rights movement, COGIC ministers and congregations played host to many significant events. In Chicago, Ford organized voter registration initiatives. He protested during the s and s against lodging segregation in Memphis, while participating in COGIC Holy Convocations there during the Civil Rights era before federal laws prohibiting such segregation. Ten years later on February 25, , when Malcolm X was assassinated and needed to a place for his funeral; No major black church or facility would open their doors for the service.
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. According to Alex Haley, "He and his wife then received bomb threats at home and at church.
He led a group of students to participate in the March on Selma. He was one of the nine members of the strategy committee the organized the sanitation strike in Memphis. He was assassinated the next day, April 4, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. Throughout the seventies and eighties, as COGIC continued to grow to millions of members nationwide, COGIC ministers all over the country continued to advance civil rights in their communities.
As the International Holy Convocation grew to thousands, COGIC leaders had to negotiate with city officials to provide hotel accommodations for the saints. His pastor and mentor was Bishop F. Washington of Brooklyn, NY. In and respectively, Rev. During the current administration of Presiding Bishop Charles Blake, COGIC unveiled it's Urban Initiatives Program to provide 60, programs nationwide through its more than 12, congregations to continue to promote the work of civil rights, and to reduce poverty, crime and violence, etc.
According to its Constitution, the church has two structures to govern the church: All officers are elected by the General Assembly. The General Secretary, General Treasurer, and Financial Secretary terms run concurrent with the current presidential administration that is elected every four years. The General Assembly elects a person General Board Presidium every four years from the college of bishops, who serve functionally as apostles of the church. 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.
As a result, the General Board exercises great authority over the church. The Presidium includes a separately elected International Presiding Bishop by the General Assembly who serves a term of four years, who, then appoints two assistant presiding bishops. National officers of the church are chosen at the General Assembly every four years unless special elections are warranted. The Judicial Board serves as the judicial branch and is the supreme body that interprets polity and practice.
It has nine members, elected by the General Assembly, including three bishops, three elders, and three lay members. 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.
The Church of God in Christ ecclesiastical structure is an episcopal-presbyterian form of government. Churches are organized in dioceses called jurisdictions , each under the authority of a bishop. The Presiding Bishop is part of a General Board, consisting of eleven other bishops elected by a General Assembly consisting of Pastors, Elders, Chaplains, Bishops, Missionaries, Supervisors, and designated lay delegates. The General Assembly is the supreme authority over the church to decide matters of faith and practice.
Jurisdictions range in size between 30 and churches. Each state in the US consist of at least one jurisdiction and several states have more than one jurisdiction. These jurisdictions are then separated into districts, which consist of 5 to 7 churches and are governed by superintendents ordained elder or pastor. There are more than ecclesiastical jurisdictions around the world with in the United States. Jurisdictions are set up similar to the National Church in terms of composition, polity, and procedure. World headquarters are in Memphis, Tennessee at Mason Temple.
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. Women in COGIC have been influential in the leadership and organization of the church since its inception. Bishop Mason was opposed to the ordination of women to formal ministry, but in created an autonomous department to promote the ministry of women in the church. The church believes that women are gifted and called to ministry; it does not, however, officially ordain women to the office of elder, or bishop.
Women are licensed in COGIC to preach and teach the gospel as ministers called evangelists, as well as to serve as district missionaries, church mothers, Pastors, and other roles in leadership. COGIC licensed female evangelists do serve as chaplains in military, federal, state, and local institutions requiring chaplains. 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. Other women are appointed as Senior Pastor, associate Pastor, or youth pastor roles without that being the case.
Each jurisdictional bishop appoints a jurisdictional supervisor to lead the work of the women on a jurisdictional level. The jurisdictional supervisor is assisted by district missionaries who oversee the women's ministry of the district. Deaconess Missionary, and Evangelist Missionary. Deaconess Missionaries serve and assist in the ceremonial and temporal affairs of the local church.
Evangelist Missionaries are licensed to preach the gospel, conduct gospel meetings, and may be given the oversight of local congregations serving as the church administrator. On the local church level in addition to the office of missionary, COGIC developed and has maintained the position of the "church mother.
COGIC teaches that according to the Word of God , there will be final events and conditions that address the end of this present age of the world. The law has a negative role similar to the role that it plays in justification. The church teaches three separate and distinct works of grace that God performs in the life of believers: Reformed theologians generally recognize the "third use of the law" which states that the Christian is "under the law as a rule of faith and conduct. The reason for our lack of spiritual vitality is usually embarrassingly simple. McEwen was elected chairman of the Executive Board, and O.
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. 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. Despite what seems to be obvious limitations to minister because of ordination, women have been given great latitude and numerous opportunities to serve in ministry in COGIC. As a result, many local congregations, foreign missions, and schools were established and through the leadership and efforts of women in COGIC.
Lizzie Woods Robinson — was the first "General Mother" of the church. 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 organized the sewing circle and after meeting Elder Searcy, she encouraged the women to support mission work through the Home and Foreign Mission bands.
As the church continued to grow, she created women auxiliaries including the Purity Class and the Sunshine Band. She began women's work on the state level and appointed the first state mothers. Robinson was a staunch advocate for holiness and taught strict guidelines for the women with regard to dress and worldliness. She was greatly interested in the building of Mason Temple and she kept her national building fund drives functioning until she knew the building was ready for dedication. Her successor, Lillian Brooks Coffey — was the organizer of the Women's International Convention to support the work of foreign missionaries.
The first convention was held in Los Angeles, California, in It is one of the largest gathering of Christian women from any major denomination and religious organization. The most active women's auxiliaries include: Coffey also began the use of the title "Jurisdictional Supervisor" for state mothers as more jurisdictions were forming in each state.
After the death of Mother Coffey in , Dr. Bailey — , became the third General Supervisor. She was the wife and companion of Bishop John Seth Bailey, a trusted adviser of Bishop Mason, and later the first assistant presiding bishop of the church. She developed the International Women's Convention into a training institute for women in the ministry. She served as the jurisdictional supervisor of several states including Maryland and New Jersey helping to establish and stabilize struggling jurisdictions.
Mattie McGlothen — the fourth General Supervisor, was a tremendous organizer with great impact on the development of the Women's Department. She built a home for missionaries in the Bahamas, a pavilion for senior citizens and unwed mothers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Today's "Praise Teams" are based on personal preferences rather than on the word of God. The ones who advocate them want to do what is popular and. WVOXMEIHLSJK» PDF» Praise Teams - Authorized by God, or Sanctified by Man. Read Doc. PRAISE TEAMS - AUTHORIZED BY GOD, OR SANCTIFIED BY .
Today thousands of COGIC women when ministering the gospel or serving in official capacities are seen in their civic black or ceremonial white habits. Crouch — of Dallas, Texas, served as the fifth General Supervisor. The presentation we made last week doesn't apply to today's decision. According to Romans 6: If we fail to do this the opposite will usually occur--we are automatically presented as slaves of sin. If we have a fatalistic attitude, to the effect that we will always live in a relatively defeated state, we probably will.
The young believer needs to be alerted to the fact that Satan will attack his mind at this point. This is especially true after a failure has occurred. We have to learn to review the relevant biblical promises, and rely on them rather than our defeated feelings. We have to take note of our doubtful or distrustful feelings and pass judgment on them II Cor It is possible to say, "Even though I feel like I will never change, I recognize that as a lie, and I elect to believe your Word.
In other words, the believer must have a strong sense of his identity position "in Christ. The more we know about, and believe in, our position in Christ, the less power sin will have in our lives see also Col. Neither are dramatic experiences the normal mode of spiritual growth. On the other hand, both of these can contribute.
Most of the time, sanctifying grace comes through defined channels. These channels can be called the "means of growth. Neither can we expect sanctification without them. Partaking in the means of growth should not be viewed as "works" sanctification, but as active receiving of grace. The means of growth emphasized in the Bible are prayer, the Word, Body-life, and the discipline of the Holy Spirit. The Reformed and the Roman Catholics also accept that communion and the law are means of growth. Instead, it may eventually result in a complete breakdown of the growth process.
Most people will realize that spiritual growth is not possible without prayer, but do they realize that the same thing applies to the other means of growth? In addition, the discipline of the Spirit may be viewed as God's responsibility, but we are responsible for our reaction to it. An incorrect response to God's discipline can render it totally ineffective.