MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Jordan (24th)

A RESOLUTION TO COMMEND THE MEMORY OF BISHOP CHARLES HARRISON MASON. 

WHEREAS, Bishop Charles Harrison Mason is the founder of the Church of God in Christ; and

WHEREAS, the origins of the church can be traced to an 1896 revival conducted by Bishop Mason in Jackson, Mississippi, at which a large number of persons were converted but after which church doors were closed to him and to his supporters because of his teachings on the doctrine of sanctification; and

WHEREAS, Bishop Mason was forced to deliver his first message from the southern entrance of the courthouse in Lexington, Mississippi, and subsequent messages in the living room of a private home and an abandoned gin house; and

WHEREAS, later the church was able to purchase land outside of Lexington and to build the mother church, St. Paul Church of God in Christ, which stands to this day; and

WHEREAS, in 1926 Bishop Mason organized the Saints Industrial School, which is now Saints Junior College, which has been able over the years to provide a quality education to numerous individuals from many varying walks of life; and

WHEREAS, today the Church of God in Christ has more than ten thousand congregations throughout this nation, has congregations in fifty-four countries, and is faithfully supported by a membership of over eight million persons; and

WHEREAS, House Bill No. 1192, 1997 Regular Session, names a portion of Highway 17 in Holmes County, in honor of Bishop Charles Harrison Mason:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we hereby commend the memory of Bishop Charles Harrison Mason and acknowledge his great work in founding the Church of God in Christ.