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The
Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. shares a common early
history with the Church of God in Christ. Charles Price
Jones, a Missionary Baptist preacher in Alabama and later
Mississippi, accepted the doctrine of Holiness around 1896.
During this time C.P. Jones became associated with W. S.
Pleasant, J. A. Jeter, Charles Harrison Mason, along with
other Holiness leaders. In 1897, C.P. Jones conducted a
Holiness convention from June 6-15 at the church he pastured,
Mt. Helm Baptist Church, in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1898,
the name Mt. Helm Baptist Church was changed to Church of
Christ.
This new group of Holiness leaders was expelled from the
Jackson Baptist Association. From that expulsion, they
adopted the name Christ Association of Mississippi of
Baptized Believers in Christ in 1900, and the national
Holiness movement accepted the name by C. H. Mason—Church of
God in Christ—in 1906. In that same year, an annual
convocation selected J. A. Jeter, C. H. Mason, and D. J.
Young to investigate the Azusa Street Revival conducted by
William J. Seymour. C.H. Mason and D. J. Young accepted
William Seymour's teaching concerning the baptism of the
Holy Spirit and returned with such doctrinal message with
great enthusiasm. After an extended discussion on the issue
of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, at the 1907 convention, a
right hand of fellowship, a separation occurred, with C. H.
Mason, D. J. Young and others leading a Holiness,
Pentecostal group. C. P. Jones retained its Holiness
emphasis when other early African-American leaders such as
C. H. Mason embraced Pentecostalism.
The name Church of God in Christ was widely held by both
groups until 1915, when Bishop C. H. Mason had the name
COGIC, incorporated. Churches of the Holiness division began
to use the name Church of Christ Holiness, and in October
1920 was chartered in the state of Mississippi as the Church
of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A..
The
Church
of Christ (Holiness)
in the United States is divided into eight dioceses -
Eastern, North Central, Northern, Pacific North West, South
Central, South Eastern, South Western, and Western. In 2008
the Church of Christ (Holiness) had 15,000 members in
167 congregations in the United States, the Dominican
Republic and Africa.
The Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. is trinitarian with a
Holiness emphasis. Water baptism of believers by immersion
and the Lord's supper as a memorial are held to be
ordinances of the church. Foot washing is also practiced,
but it is not regarded as an ordinance. The church does not
reject speaking in tongues (glossolalia). The church
emphasizes that the Holy Spirit is an indispensable gift to
every believer, but places no emphasis on an initial
evidence as speaking in tongues to be the results of such
gift.
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