Charles Edward Blake Sr.: Difference between revisions

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'''Charles Edward Blake Sr.''' (born August 5, 1940) is an American minister and retired pastor who served as the Presiding [[Bishop]] and leader of the [[Church of God in Christ]], a 6 million-member [[Holiness Pentecostal]] [[Christian denomination|denomination]], that has now grown to become one of the largest predominantly African American Pentecostal denominations in the United States, from 2007 to 2021.<ref name="Courey2015">{{cite book |last1=Courey |first1=David J. |title=What Has Wittenberg to Do with Azusa?: Luther's Theology of the Cross and Pentecostal Triumphalism |date=26 February 2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-567-65631-5 |page=227 |language=English|quote=The controversy led to the emergence of three-step Holiness Pentecostal denominations (the Church of God, Cleveland, TN; the Pentecostal Holiness Church and the Church of God in Christ) and two-step, Finished Work denominations (the Assemblies of God and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada).}}</ref><ref name="Anderson2004">{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Allan |title=An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity |date=13 May 2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-53280-8 |page=47 |language=English|quote=Those who resisted Durham's teaching and remained in the 'three-stage' camp were Seymour, Crawford and Parham, and Bishops Charles H. Mason, A.J. Tomlinson and J.H. King, respectively leaders of the Church of God in Christ, the Church of God (Cleveland) and the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Tomlinson and King each issued tirades against the 'finished work' doctrine in their periodicals, but by 1914 some 60 percent of all North American Pentecostals had embraced Durham's position. ... The 'Finished Work' controversy was only the first of many subsequent divisions in North American Pentecostalism. Not only did Pentecostal churches split over the question of sanctification as a distinct experience, but a more fundamental and acrimonious split erupted in 1916 over the doctrine of the Trinity. ... The 'New Issue' was a schism in the ranks of the 'Finished Work' Pentecostals that began as a teaching that the correct formula for baptism is 'in the name of Jesus' and developed into a dispute about the Trinity. It confirmed for Holiness Pentecostals that they should have no further fellowship with the 'Finished Work' Pentecostals, who were in 'heresy'.}}</ref> On March 21, 2007, he became the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., as a result of Presiding Bishop [[Gilbert E. Patterson]]'s death. In a November 2007 special [[election]], he was elected to complete the unexpired term of his predecessor as Presiding Bishop. In November 2008, Bishop Blake was re-elected to serve a four-year term as Presiding Bishop. In November 2012, Bishop Blake was re-elected again to serve a four-year term as the Presiding Bishop.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afro.com/cogic-re-elects-presiding-bishop-charles-e-blake-sr-as-leader/|title=COGIC Re-Elects Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr. as Leader - Afro|first=AFRO|last=Staff|date=21 November 2012|access-date=15 April 2017}}</ref> He was reelected to a third term as Presiding Bishop on November 15, 2016. On October 23, 2020, Bishop Blake announced that he would not seek a re-election as Presiding Bishop nor as a member of the General Board and that he would retire from the Office of Presiding Bishop and from the General Board in 2021.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=PRESS RELEASE: Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr. Will Not Seek Reelection|url=http://www.cogic.org/blog/special-announcement-from-our-presiding-bishop-charles-e-blake-sr/|access-date=2020-12-30|website=Church Of God In Christ|language=en-US}}</ref> He officially retired on March 19, 2021, and was succeeded by [[John Drew Sheard, Sr.|Bishop J. Drew Sheard, Sr.]] as Presiding Bishop on March 20, 2021.

Blake was the fifth Presiding Bishop (and seventh leader) of the historically African-American denomination from 2007 to 2021. From 1985 until 2009, he was the Jurisdictional Prelate of the First Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of [[Southern California]], overseeing more than 250 churches that compose the jurisdiction. He was succeeded by Bishop Joe L. Ealy.

Charles Blake was born on August 5, 1940, in [[Little Rock, Arkansas]], to the late Bishop Junious Augustus (J. A.) Blake, Sr. and the late Evangelist Lula M. Blake. He has one older brother, J. A. Blake, Jr., who is also a bishop and pastor in the COGIC denomination in [[San Diego|San Diego, California]]. He became a Christian and converted to Pentecostal Christianity as a young adolescent, under the ministry of his mother and father in Arkansas, and he and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was in his 20's when his father was asked to take over as a bishop of the First Jurisdiction of Southern California for the COGIC denomination. In 1969, he was asked by his father and by Southern California COGIC bishop, Bishop Samuel M. Crouch, to take over as the pastor of the [[West Angeles Church of God in Christ]]. He was officially installed as the senior pastor of the church the following year in 1970. 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.

In 1982, he was selected by ''[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]'' magazine as one of the 15 "Greatest Preachers in America". Since 2007, ''Ebony'' has recognized Bishop Blake annually, as one of its 100+ most influential [[African Americans]]. In the 1990's and early 2000's, Blake also penned articles for ''Ebony'' and ''[[Christianity Today]]'' noting the importance of the [[Black church|Black Church]]'s influence on presidential elections and American politics and society in general. <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ebony.com/news-views/black-church-election#axzz4zg6c2dbf|title = Why the Power of the Black Church Matters This Election|date = October 14, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/february-web-only/gods-place-in-black-history.html|title = God's Place in Black History| date=February 12, 2016 }}</ref> In 1984, after the death of his father, he was ordained and consecrated as a jurisdictional bishop of the First Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of Southern California for the COGIC denomination, and remained in that position until 2009 when he stepped down from the position to dedicate himself fully to the duties of the Office of the Presiding Bishop.

BetwrenBetween 2009 and 2011, in response to the [[HIV/AIDS in Africa|HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa]], Blake founded and was the first president of the Pan African Children's Fund (PACF). Save Africa's Children, a program of PACF, currently provides support to over 220 charity missions and orphanages throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

On April 24, 2022, while addressing his local congregation at the West Angeles COGIC for their sunday morning service, he announced that he has been dealing with and coping with [[Parkinson's disease]], "for the past ten years", and that as of April 2022, he was going to be retiring as the senior pastor of West Angeles COGIC, and that his two sons who are also COGIC elders and ministers, Reverends Charles, Jr. and Lawrence Blake, would be taking over as the ''[[de facto]]'' pastor and assistant pastor of the West Angeles congregation, respectively. He announced that he met with the ministry leaders and church council and trustee board members and consulted with them to approve of Reverend Charles Blake, Jr and Reverend Lawrence Blake, taking over much of his duties as the de facto pastor and assistant pastor of the church. However, he said in his remarks that he did not want to use the word "retirement" as he said, "he would still be worshiping and fellowshiping with the saints of God in worship services, and that he would still be around for anyone who needs pastoral and fatherly counseling, prayer, and mentorship,"...but added that he would no longer be carrying out his official duties as senior pastor of the church, and that he would "continue to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and serve the ministries of West Angeles however the Lord leads me and however you all may need me as the Lord sees fit and allows me to live on, so consider myself as semi-retired."[[Sic|[sic]]]. His sons Reverend Charles Blake, Jr. and Reverend Lawrence Blake were officially appointed as the senior pastor and assistant pastor of the church in October 2022.<ref>{{Citation |title=Bishop Charles E. Blake Semi Retirement Announcement |url=https://www.facebook.com/westangelescogic/videos/1461710370929538/ |language=en |access-date=2022-04-26}}</ref>

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[[Category:21st-century American bishops]]