With Signs Following

With Signs Following

Author: Raynard D. Smith

Publisher: Chalice Press

Published: 2015-12-01

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 0827243200

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Born to ex-slaves in Reconstruction-era Tennessee, Bishop Charles Harrison Mason had a vision for the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) that thrives today in an international Pentecostal church with more than five million members. With Signs Following: The Life and Ministry of Charles Harrison Mason examines the social, cultural, and religious aspects of Bishop Mason's leadership and creative genius in establishing COGIC as a distinct Black Church tradition. With Signs Following shares four decades of research from leading scholars that addresses the sociological, theological, psychological, social-ethical, and historical perspectives of COGIC and Mason's ministry. Contributors: Christopher Brennan Ithiel Clemmons David D. Daniels III Glenda Williams Goodson Robert R. Owens Craig Scandrett-Leatherman Raynard D. Smith Frederick L. Ware


Bishop Charles H. Mason in the Age of Jim Crow

Bishop Charles H. Mason in the Age of Jim Crow

Author: Elton H. Weaver

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-11-17

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 1498595170

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Bishop Charles H. Mason in the Age of Jim Crow profiles the life and career of Charles Harrison Mason. Mason was the founder of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), which from its Memphis roots, grew into the most significant black Pentecostal denomination in the United States, with profound theological and political ramifications for poor and working-class black Memphians. Bishop Charles H. Mason in the Age of Jim Crow is grounded in the history of the Jim Crow era. The book traces the origins of COGIC in Memphis; it reveals just how Mason’s new black Pentecostal denomination grew, gained social and political power, and earned a permanent place in Memphis’s black religious pantheon. This book tells how a son of slaves transformed a rural migrant movement into an urban phenomenon, how unusual religious demonstrations exemplified infrapolitical religious protests, and how these rituals of resistance changed black lives and helped strengthen and sustain blacks fighting for freedom in segregated Memphis. The author reveals why Charles H. Mason was an important pre-civil rights religious leader who laid the groundwork for integrated churches.