African American Religious Group: The Church of God in Christ

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The Church of God in Christ
Introduction
During the slavery period, everything was shaped to oppress the African Slaves. Like other measures, religion was also used to oppress the enslaved people. However, after the abolishment of slavery, no major changes were made in religions. This reason made most people view it as a white religion. Since there were African people who had learned, it prompted them to start their denomination. One outstanding African denomination is the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). Bishop Charles Harrison Mason and Baptist Charles Price Jones helped to form the COGIC denomination helping the Africans shift from white religion, which currently has approximately 6.5 million members in more than 87 countries despite the prior persecutions.
Importance of COGIC in Religious History
The COGIC played a major role in shaping African American religious history. For example, America was mainly cemented by the U.S. religious landscape during its founding. Nevertheless, during this period, most of the black Christians were not satisfied to be among the White churches since there was some degree to which they were violating their rights. The foundation of the COGIC played a major role in African American religious history. This denomination caused most Black Christians to leave the White-dominated churches to join the ones. Furthermore, it has had an outstanding impact since it built a platform for developing Protestant Christianity and Pentecostalism within the United States.
On the other hand, the foundation of the COGIC opened a room for people to start other religious movements. For example, by the early 1900s, small non-Christian Black religious’ organizations were introduced. The main goal of the following organizations was to change the perception of Black people where; they would start viewing themselves as "Moorish," "Asiatic," or even the ancient Israelites' descendants. The main aim of this movement was to use a different religion which could help to nurture the black people's identity. The main argument the following individuals were using is that despite Christianity being one of the most widespread religions, it had not helped the Black people since most of the Black people were still complaining about instances of discrimination. This narrative made these individuals start influencing the people to Islam and the African religion. Even though these transformations only attracted a small proportion of the Black population, they succeeded in making a lasting influence among the Black communities. Furthermore, it helped the black community to have a diversity of religions where the people could choose the religion that fits them.
Historical Figures in the COGIC
Some people played critical roles in making COGIC succeed. One of the individuals was Bishop Charles Harrison Mason. Founded the COGIC on September 8, 1864, after he and Charles Jones Price Jones, a popular Baptist preacher, were barred from attending the Baptist Convention. Therefore, these individuals decided to form a new fellowship of Churches in which they could have the freedom to speak about the doctrine of holiness and sanctification (Baer 113). They decided to name ...