Charles Edward Blake, Sr.

Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr.
Church	Pentecostal
In office	2007-present
Predecessor	Gilbert Earl Patterson
Personal details
Born	(1940-08-05) August 5, 1940 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Spouse	Mae Lawrence Blake,
Children	3, with 8 grandchildren
Occupation	Presiding Bishop, Church of God in Christ, Pastor, theologian, television personality

For the Arkansas politician similarly named, see Charles J. Blake.

Charles Edward Blake, Sr. (born August 5, 1940 in Little Rock, Arkansas) ^[1] is the presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., a 6 million-member Pentecostal-Holiness denomination. 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.^[2]

Blake is the fifth Presiding Bishop (and seventh leader) of the historically African-American denomination. 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.

Biography

Bishop Blake is a preacher man the pastor of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ (COGIC),^[3] one of the largest churches in the Western United States, with a membership of over 24,000, starting with only 50 members in 1969 when he became pastor.

In 1982, he was selected by Ebony magazine as one of the 15 "Greatest Preachers in America". Since 2007, Ebony has recognized Bishop Blake annually, as one of the 100+ most influential African Americans.

He has been a member of the General Board of COGIC since 1988.

Bishop Blake is an ardent advocate of education and academic excellence, who holds multiple academic and honorary degrees, from various educational institutions. Most recently, California State University, Los Angeles conferred an honorary doctorate upon him on June 12, 2010.

In response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, Blake founded and is president of the Pan African Children's Fund (PACF). Save Africa's Children, a program of PACF, currently provides support to over 220 orphanages throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

He was the founding Chair of the Board of Directors for,^[4] and has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, and as a Board Member of the Board of Directors for the Interdenominational Theological Seminary. Blake has served as Chair of the Executive Committee, member of the Board of Directors of Oral Roberts University, and as a member of the Board of Directors of International Charismatic Bible Ministries.

Blake has also formerly served as an Advisory Committee Member of the Pentecostal World Conference, and as the founder and Co-chair of the Los Angeles Ecumenical Congress (LAEC), an interdenominational coalition of religious leaders and pastors. He has also been awarded the Salvation Army's William Booth Award, the Greenlining Institute's Big Heart Award, and was the designated recipient of the L.A. Urban League's Whitney M. Young Award for the year 2000. In 2010 he was appointed as a member of the Barack Obama's Inaugural Advisory Council of the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. ^[5]

He is married to Mrs. Mae Lawrence Blake, and they have three children and eight grandchildren.

References

External links

US Black church denominations and leaders

General	Black church Religion in Black America Historically African-American Christian denominations Clergy

Methodist	African Methodist Episcopal Church (John Adams, Sr. Richard Allen Sarah Allen Benjamin W. Arnett George Lincoln Blackwell Morris Brown Jamal Harrison Bryant John Richard Bryant Richard H. Cain Archibald Carey, Jr. Daniel Coker James H. Cone James Levert Davis Jordan Winston Early Floyd H. Flake Carolyn Tyler Guidry Sarah E. Gorham William H. Heard Reginald Jackson Henrietta Phelps Jeffries Absalom Jones Ben Kinchlow Vashti Murphy McKenzie Biddy Mason Lena Doolin Mason Robert Meacham Lyman S. Parks Daniel Payne Charles H. Pearce Clementa C. Pinckney William Paul Quinn Reverdy Cassius Ransom Richard Henry Singleton Charles Spencer Smith Theophilus Gould Steward Henry McNeal Turner William Tecumseh Vernon D. Ormonde Walker Lewis Woodson) African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (Julia A. J. Foote Thomas James John Kinard Jermain Wesley Loguen William Henry Singleton John Bryan Small Jeffery Tribble James Varick Alexander Walters) A.U.M.P. Church (Peter Spencer) Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (William Yancy Bell William H. Miles)

Baptist	National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. (Stewart Cleveland Cureton Joseph H. Jackson T. J. Jemison Henry Lyons Benjamin Mays W. J. Simmons) Progressive National Baptist Convention (Ralph Abernathy William Augustus Jones, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gardner C. Taylor) Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (Vernon Johns) First African Baptist Church (Richmond, Virginia) (Lucy Goode Brooks) First African Baptist Church (Savannah, Georgia) (David George) First Baptist Church (Petersburg, Virginia) Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship (Paul S. Morton) Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association Joint National Baptist Convention Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention (Lott Cary Clinton Caldwell Boone) National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. (R. H. Boyd) National Missionary Baptist Convention of America (S. M. Lockridge) National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. Silver Bluff Baptist Church United American Free Will Baptist Church (Benjamin Randall) United American Free Will Baptist Conference

Pentecostal	Church of God in Christ (Charles E. Blake Andraé Crouch Sandra Crouch J. Delano Ellis Robert Michael Franklin, Jr. Samuel Green, Jr. Edwin Hawkins O. T. Jones, Sr. John P. Kee Charles Harrison Mason Chandler David Owens Sr Gilbert E. Patterson J. O. Patterson, Jr. Wayne Perryman Ted Thomas, Sr. F. D. Washington Dickerson Wells Timothy Wright Lennox Yearwood) Apostolic Assemblies of Christ Apostolic Faith Church (William J. Seymour) Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith (Robert C. Lawson) Church of Universal Triumph, Dominion of God (James F. Jones) Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas Mount Sinai Holy Church of America (Ida B. Robinson) Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (Charles H. Ellis III) Reformed Zion Union Apostolic Church United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God, Incorporated United Holy Church of America United Sabbath-Day Adventist Church

Other	African Orthodox Church (George Alexander McGuire) Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. (Charles Price Jones) Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America City of Refuge UCC (Yvette Flunder) Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation (George Augustus Stallings, Jr.) Interdenominational Theological Center Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge Love Center Church (Walter Hawkins) Original Church of God or Sanctified Church Spencer Churches (Peter Spencer) Spiritual Israel Church and Its Army Trinity United Church of Christ (Otis Moss III) United House of Prayer for All People (Marcelino Manuel da Graca)

Authority control	VIAF: 73237523

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