Corrections have been made to this page 11/02/2009: Bishop Gilkey's first name is Joseph and Enoch Perry's title was referenced as "Bishop". Those statements were incorrect. Special note 11/29/09: See bottom of the article for commentary and update.
As the Church Of God In Christ's 102nd Annual Holy Convocation begins Nov. 2-9, 2009, there are some significant 21st century challenges that the church faces. 2 of the most acute questions have been asked by individuals such as Pastor D.L.Foster of GCMWatch.com and myself among others:
1- How will COGIC handle the perpetrators of sexual abuse among clergy?
2- How will COGIC handle the victims of sexual abuse and make them whole?
And what may be a similarly related issue:
3- Truly, how is the real property of congregations and the congregations themselves handled when a pastor dies and why is the congregation overlooked?
Section I: Clergy Sexual Abuse
1- How will COGIC handle the perpetrators of sexual abuse among clergy?
2- How will COGIC handle the victims of sexual abuse and make them whole?
In what was a shocking revelation, Deidre Malone of the Malone Group, and spokeswoman on behalf of COGIC, said that the Presiding Bishop of the Church Of God In Christ, Bishop Charles E. Blake stated that: She further stated that Bishop Charles E. Blake will announce an initiative regarding clergy sexual misconduct during the Holy Convocation Nov. 2-9."The church has been working on this issue for more than 15 years,"
First, it is refreshing to see that this issue will be addressed and addressed openly and hopefully clearly. Although I haven't heard from any official as to the plans and statements that will be made, at ReportCOGICabuse.org, it can be noted that I have at least tried to at least present information pertinent to addressing the care of the victims of these sort of atrocities.
The sad thing is that if the church has been aware of these sort of atrocities for 15 years, why hasn't it responded with greater sense of urgency and a more exacting resolve? Over the last 15 years there have been 3 Chief Apostles of the church:
Bishop Chandler D. Owens
Bishop G.E. Patterson
Bishop Charles E. Blake
I would say that based on the atrocities of former General Board member, Bishop J.D. Husband, that someone had to know that there was trouble long prior to 15 years ago. GCMWatch also reported this:"In 1991, through his lawyer, Bishop J.D. Husband, a charter member of the Church of God in Christ’s General Board, admitted guilt to “all charges” levied against him. But multitudes of people are still baffled about what Husband did. Other than rumors, the evidence against him was kept secretive and not even reported to legal authorities."
Although Mrs. Malone's comments leave much open room, one wonders what is it that the church has been working on for 15 years regarding the clergy sexual abuse issue and under who's direction that this "work" been taking place and to what aim. Hopefully that will be addressed during the Convocation and the church will come out with a greater sensitivity toward the victims of sexual abuse and a plan that will permanently remove sexual predators and abuses from all clergy activities. Clearly the days of simply looking the other way, as has been the recent MO of many of our leaders, is over, and children of God are demanding a much greater and more biblical accountability of the church leadership.
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