by Elder John Mabry
Although I grew up in the Baptist denomination, I became acquainted with the Church of God in Christ at an early age. One of my brothers eventually "left" our local Baptist church when he was a teenager and began fellowshipping with the "saints" at the local "holiness church." This is the church where one could find most of the young people in our community on a Sunday afternoon. This is where we attended Young Peoples Willing Workers (YPWW) Bible classes, classes that were taught differently from out Baptist Training Union classes (BTU). YPWW classes were taught by Spirit-filled missionaries and ministers who were young at heart; they loved and appreciated young people. They always ended YPWW classes by bringing all the children together for Bible scripture competition. Our teachers would call out a verse, and we had to quickly thumb through our Bibles to find the scripture, stand up, and read it. There were never any prizes given out for the winner—just the satisfaction of knowing that one knew where to locate the scriptures. This little game helped us to learn the books of the Bible and recite verses.
As time passed during the year, the pastor of that church, along with several members—including my brother—went to Memphis, Tennessee, where they attended the Holy Convocation. I recall how many saints took on extra work and saved money for months in order to afford the trip. No job was too menial or too hard. If it was honest work, they did it. They had a drive and a zeal that is seldom seen in the church today. Bishop C. H. Mason was chief overseer of the Church of God in Christ in those days. Although he was up in age and had begun limiting his speaking engagements, he always managed to make a few key appearances in the Convocation. Upon his return home, my brother told me about the miracles he saw, prayer services he was in, and sermons he heard. He said that Bishop Mason was an amazing man; he was the same all the time. As anointed as he was, he never felt that he had "arrived." He told me recently, "You would see him in the worship service, clapping his hands, singing, and dancing in the spirit with the rest of us." "I can’t wait," I often thought, "until I grow up so I can go to the Memphis meeting, too."
That was a long time ago. Since then Bishop Mason has died. Other presiding Bishops have come and gone, and the YPWW leaders at that little church back in Texas have closed their eyes as well. The Holy Convocation has not been held in Memphis in two years and probably will not be held there again until sometime in the future.
In the meantime, this new generation of Church of God in Christ worshippers must lead the church into the 21st Century as we confront a multitude of issues, including spiraling inflation, a downward economy, unheralded crime, and a great apostate church in the earth today.