The Church of God in Christ was officially started in 1897.  Its founder Charles Harrison Mason was born a Baptist in 1866.  He became dissatisfied with some of the Baptist Church’s approaches towards the religion after attending the Arkansas Baptist College for several months in 1893, though.    For a while he continued to preach as a Baptist but his focus on the doctrine of sanctification caused the disapproval of many members of the church.  Thus in 1897 a group of his supporters and Mason himself decided to organize a church “…which would emphasize the doctrine of entire sanctification through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit” (“The Story…Church”).  The Church was originally called the Church of God, it was renamed the Church of God in Christ when Mason was inspired by a passage of the Bible.

The church was reorganized when Mason had a revelation in 1907.  While attending a Pentecostal revival, Mason realized that his church needed to have “the outpouring of the Holy ghost” (“The Story…Church”).  This caused some dispute among the heads of the Church of God in Christ becomes some of them viewed Mason’s epiphany as nothing more than a delusion.  When this caused some of these leaders to stop supporting Mason, he called a conference for all those who still supported him.  From the conference, the first Pentecostal General Assembly of the Church of God in Christ was formed with Mason as its general overseer.  

After Mason’s death, some feel that the church suffered since a handful of officials still viewed Mason’s baptism revelation to be off base.  Thirty years ago, the Church of God in Christ United was started in order to combat that fear.  This organization focuses on 5 main tenets and on spreading the word to other nations. 

In 1997 there were approximately eight million members of the Church of God in Christ.  These members believe in one God in three persons, the Bible being the one and only written word of God, and the sanctifying power of the holy spirit just as the original church did in 1897 (“Church… Christ”).  They also believe in the importance of Christ’s sacrifice for mankind through his crucifixion, and the Blessed Hope, which deals with the return of Christ.  They have maintained some of Mason’s reorganized version of the religion.  They believe that Baptism is given to those who seek it, and in the essentialness of regeneration by the Holy Ghost and its role in repentance.    

Church of God in Christ
This website is the Church of God in Christ’s official page.  On it is a picture of the Church’s symbol with explanations of the significance behind its various elements.  This page contains links to information about the Church’s history, beliefs, personnel, and locations.  It gives a very thorough background as to the starting of this religion.  This article has actually been copied by many of the churches of this religion for their own webpages.  It explains how the church has developed and why.  It also contains detailed explanations as to the beliefs of the followers of the Church of God in Christ in both laymen’s terms and through their official doctrines with supporting text from the Bible.  The site includes links to various organizations of the Church of God in Christ such as their youth organizations and musical groups.

International Headquarters Church of God in Christ United, 2000.
This site is the homepage for the International Headquarters Church of God in Christ United.  This organization is 30 years old and helps to spread the word of the Church of God in Christ to Haiti, the Virgin Islands, Trinidad, Bermuda, Barbados, Canada, Jamaica, England and Africa.  The international prelate of this organization claims that the Church of God in Christ went through a dark period after the death of its founder Charles Mason.  He says that this was because of the refusal of the leaders of the church to follow the revealed way.  In 1970, the Church of God in Christ United was started though.  This group believes in five major tenets: separation of church and state; the importance of the Bible; their defense of the Bible; the importance of the church at the local level; local commitment will replace national assessments. 

Refuge Church of God in Christ, 2001.
Although some of this site’s articles are the same as the Church of God in Christ’s official webpage, it also gives examples of work being done at the smaller level.  It highlights the projects and efforts of a church in Chesapeake, Virginia.

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