Earlier Tuesday, while still at Mason Temple, COGIC saints anointed themselves with holy oil — infused with myrrh, calamus, cinnamon and cassia — and prayed for healing and blessing. The oil also continued mustard seeds brought by Sheard from Jerusalem, symbolic of the Christian faith.
Memphis Commercial Appeal
The Historic Mason Temple had a new carpet installed about three weeks ago.
And Tuesday morning, the “Saints” broke that carpet in, dancing in the aisles, on the stage, and in the pews to the sound of song and tambourines.
“What a joy it is to be back in Mason Temple, back in the City of Memphis, Tennessee,” said the Rt. Rev. J. Drew Sheard, presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ. “There’s something unique about being in Memphis, Tennessee, and about being in Mason Temple. My brothers and sisters, there’s a unique feeling about being here in this place. I’m sorry, but we get this feeling nowhere else. Amen. I’m talking about being at home.”
This week, an excess of 25,000 estimated “saints” are expected to converge on Memphis for the Church of God in Christ’s 114th Holy Convocation, themed “The Challenge We Face.”
This year is particularly poignant: It’s COGIC’s first annual meeting back in the city of its founding, and it’s the first in-person meeting after COVID-19 disrupted gatherings across the world.
e Pentecostal gathering this week brings together representatives from all 50 states as well as international delegates from Israel, France, the United Kingdom, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and more.
The convocation, which lasts through Sunday, will include multiple worship services, highlights on world missions, installation of bishops and closed-door business sessions for pastors and elders.
While most of the convention will be held at the Renasant Convention Center due to the number of attendees, Tuesday morning’s “service of anointing” took place at Mason Temple, the church dedicated in 1945 as COGIC’s national meeting site and international headquarters. In 1907, the denomination’s founder and first senior bishop, Charles Harrison Mason, established COGIC in Memphis.
It was also at Mason Temple where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his historic “Mountaintop” speech the night before he was assassinated.
At the time of its opening, Mason Temple was the largest African American controlled venue in the South.
Today, the Church of God in Christ has a global impact, self-reporting 6.5 million members worldwide, and is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States.
In 2010, the denomination began to hold its annual meeting in St. Louis, with leaders in the denomination citing high hotel rates and a lack of meeting space in Memphis as reasons for the move. It wasn’t until 2018 that COGIC announced it would return to Memphis in 2021, a move then delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the convocation online.
“Nobody had a guarantee that we would be back. Not only because of the scheduling of the services, but nobody had a guarantee you would live this long,” said Bishop Jerry Wayne Macklin, first assistant presiding bishop. “There were many people who said the church would never come back like it was, but I’m so happy to announce that our God is a good God, and we’re still here.”
By Tuesday evening, the crowd had grown enough to start filling a massive portion of the Renasant Center. The center is expected to fill up by the weekend, using the Cannon Center as overflow room during main sessions.
Saints watched a video message from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who said, “You’ve been a blessing to people near and far and I’m grateful for your work to invest in communities and make families stronger.”
And, they were greeted by Bishop Charles H. M. Patterson, Sr., COGIC treasurer and pastor of Pentecostal Temple COGIC in Memphis. Patterson is also the grandson of Mason, the denomination’s founder.
When he tried to write his message to the saints, Patterson “couldn’t come up with adequate words to describe how I feel right now,” he said.
“The Lord met us this morning,” Patterson said. “I said the Lord met us this morning. And more than anything, I thank God that the Holy Ghost welcomed us back to Memphis, Tennessee. I want to be honest with you, I have missed you all. I have missed the fellowship of the saints.”
Earlier Tuesday, while still at Mason Temple, COGIC saints anointed themselves with holy oil — infused with myrrh, calamus, cinnamon and cassia — and prayed for healing and blessing. The oil also continued mustard seeds brought by Sheard from Jerusalem, symbolic of the Christian faith.
Later, leaders unveiled a statue of Mason outside the temple.
“We are part of a Holy Ghost church. This is a tongue talking, foot stomping, Pentecostal Church of God in Christ,” Sheard said. “I’m expecting God to meet us in every service. I’m expecting God to do something. I’m expecting some bodies to be healed. I’m expecting some testimonies that their cancers have been eradicated. I’m expecting tumors to be dissolved. I’m expecting people that came in limping to walk out without a limp.”
Katherine Burgess covers county government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.