HIS GRACE, THE MOST REVEREND CHARLES E. BLAKE, SR.,

PRESIDING BISHOP EMERITUS

Bishop Blake served on President Barack Obama’s Faith-based Advisory Council during Obama’s historic administration.

Bishop Charles Edward Blake, Sr. is Chief Apostle and pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ, one of the largest churches in the Western United States, with a membership of over 25,000.  He is recognized as one of the greatest preachers of this generation with a message that ministers to the whole person, and brings together people of various racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Bishop Blake is currently Presiding Bishop Emeritus of the Church of God in Christ, an 8.8 million-member Pentecostal–Holiness denomination, that has now grown to become one of the largest predominantly African American Pentecostal denominations in the United States.  He was elected Presiding Bishop, the seventh in succession, by the General Assembly of the Church of God in Christ, Incorporated, on November 12, 2007, at the 101^st Holy Convocation, during the quadrennial election. Bishop Blake was re-elected as Presiding Bishop in 2012, and again on Tuesday, November 15, 2016, following the COGIC 109th Holy Convocation.  Bishop Blake retired from the position in 2021.

THE ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE

On April 6, 2009, in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama sought then Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr. to serve on his 25-person White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  The one-year appointment was a testament to Bishop’s passion for the community and his desire to unite all people for the common good.  He was also chosen as one of four individuals to speak at the Democratic National Convention’s first Ecumenical Service, where he pronounced his status as pro-life Democrat and challenged both Democrats and Republicans to protect the rights of the unborn and born alike.

DISTINGUISHED WORLD LEADERSHIP

The heart of Bishop Blake is seen clearly in his love for the children in Africa who have become orphans as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  In response to the crisis, Bishop Blake founded, and was president of, the Pan African Children’s Fund (PACF).  Save Africa’s Children, a program of PACF, provided support to over 420 orphan care programs, 200,000 children and 24 nations throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Bishop Blake and “his secret weapon”: First Lady Mae Lawrence Blake

Bishop Blake has also formerly served as an Advisory Committee Member of the Pentecostal World Conference, and as the founder and Co-chair of the Los Angeles Ecumenical Congress (LAEC), an interdenominational coalition of religious leaders and pastors.  He was the founding Chair of the Board of Directors for the C.H. Mason Theological Seminary, and has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, and as a Board Member of the Board of Directors for the Interdenominational Theological Seminary.  Bishop Blake has served as Chair of the Executive Committee, member of the Board of Directors of Oral Roberts University, and as a member of the Board of Directors of International Charismatic Bible Ministries.

Bishop Blake’s awards and accolades are numerous.  A few include the Distinguished Leadership Award presented by the African Presidential Archives and Research Center at Boston University (2007), the Trumpet Award (2006), the Salvation Army’s William Booth Award, the Greenlining Institute’s Big Heart Award, and was the designated recipient of the Los Angeles Urban League’s Whitney M. Young Award (2000).  In 2003, Bishop Blake was awarded the Harvard Foundation Humanitarian Medal for his work with Save Africa’s Children and its mission to support orphanages throughout the continent of Africa.  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors designated February 5, 2004 as Bishop Charles E. Blake Day.

FAMILY LIFE

Second only to his call as a minister of the Gospel, Bishop Blake says his most treasured accomplishments are those of a devoted husband to Lady Mae Lawrence Blake, and a loving father and grandfather to their three children and eight grandchildren.