By Glenda Goodson - May 29, 2009 72 1024x768 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} I have been a part of the Church God in Christ all of my life. The older people would say that I was born in the church twice - once through my parents and secondly through my baptism into Christ. Being a third-generation COGIC member, I know the treasure that COGIC is and its rich heritage, which I will outline below. I am one of thousands of women who rush to the Women's Convention each year to receive spiritual refreshment, reconnect with sisters I have not seen since last year, especially women like the Supervisor of Women in South Africa and England, and to receive spiritual instructions from one of the premier groups of women in the world! As a writer and editor with The Whole Truth , the denominational publication, I also cover the convention. Go to the official COGIC website Go to the COGIC Women's Department website JOIN THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE WOMEN'S CONVENTION While all Americans celebrate the great men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice-placing their lives on the line for the freedom we enjoy-a group of some of the most beautiful and beautifully clad African American, African, Haitian, South African and women from some of the 157 countries in which the Church of God in Christ is planted, celebrate the freedom that Jesus Christ provides at the 59 th Women's International Convention (WIC) of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in Denver, CO. The Church of God in Christ began as a holiness church in 1897 and reorganized as a Pentecostal body in 1907 after co-founder Bishop C.H. Mason attended the Azusa Street Revival. From its inception Bishop Mason held women in high esteem and four years after establishing the church set the tone for COGIC's empowerment of women when he named Lizzie Robinson as the first General Overseer of Women. After her death the leadership of women was passed to Lillian Brooks Coffey who established the Women's International Convention in 1950 with a view toward "Better Homes, Better Schools and Better World." The first WIC was held in Los Angeles in 1950 with less than 500 women. According to WIC leaders, Denver has had to open an additional two hotels to accommodate the 18,000 to 20,000 women who have converged upon the city. Unlike some conferences that emphasize world issues and culture wars, women tapped to present workshops focus on the power of Scripture as guides for the lives of homemakers as well as entrepreneurs like COGIC member Valerie Carter Daniels, who has been featured in Essence and Ebony magazines detailing her rise in Burger King and other retails establishments with over 144 franchises. To begin the WIC, the 83-year-old powerhouse and leader of the Department Mother Willie Mae Rivers called for a solemn assembly, which lasted from Midnight on Sunday night through Noon Monday. Thousands of women met her to cry out to God to forgive our sins, bless our homes, send peace in the world, pray for Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, U.S. President Barack Obama, and that God would visit us in a mighty way. While COGIC boasts of a diverse group of adherents from the service industry to the scholar to the CEO, she is also known for her adherence to her African roots, especially in the areas of music and dance. Women experienced this beauty through the anointed singing of recording artists Myna Summers, The Nevel Sisters, Kathy Taylor, and Dorinda Clark Cole at the Gospel Explosion Monday night. One woman said that the music lifted her so much that even by Tuesday night she still felt its affects. Tuesday night, general supervisor, Mother Willie Mae Rivers gave her address from I Corinthians 9:19-22 giving the women strategies for empowerment to impact the world for Jesus Christ. Presiding Bishop Blake and members of the General Board attended as she preached to approximately 15,000 women and more across the world through the Internet. She charged the women never to lose the focus of the convention or lose sight of who they are as the light of the Lord in a dark world. The strategies of fasting and praying should not be thrown away. The strategies of studying the Word of God must be championed. Team work is a must! The auditorium was stirred and she built upon the foundation of her predecessors in teaching that there must be a difference between holy and unholy, clean and unclean. Want to learn more about Pentecostalism? Read the Patheos.com LIBRARY. Glenda Goodson lives in Dallas, TX, where she is a licensed missionary at the Open Door Church of God in Christ. A former fulfillment manager with Southwest US division of Dr. Pepper/7 Up, she earned her college degree from Southern Methodist University in English and creative writing and her MBA at Amberton University. She is director of public relations for the Northeast Texas Jurisdiction of COGIC (one of over 200 regional divisions of the denomination) and a historian for the International Department of Women.
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