Charles Harrison Mason
| Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, Sr. | |
|---|---|
Bishop CH Mason
|
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| Successor | O. T. Jones Sr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 8, 1864 Shelby County, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | November 17, 1961 (aged 97) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Spouse | Alice Saxton 1890-1892 (divorce) Lelia Washington 1905-1936 (her death) Elsie Washington 1943-1961 (his death) |
| Occupation | Senior Bishop, Church of God in Christ, Chief Apostle, Pastor and Evangelist |
Charles Harrison Mason (September 8, 1864 - November 17, 1961) was an American Pentecostal–Holiness leader and minister. He was the founder and first Senior Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, based in Lexington, Mississippi. It developed as the largest Pentecostal church in the United States.
Mason was born the son of former slaves Jerry and Eliza Mason in Shelby County, Tennessee. He lived with his family in an unincorporated area near Bartlett. Mason worked with his family sharecropping and he did not receive an early formal education. As a child, Mason was greatly influenced by the religion of his parents. In 1879 at the age of twelve, Mason joined the African-American Missionary Baptist Church; he was later baptized by his older brother, Rev. I. S. Nelson.
In 1893, Mason began his own ministerial career by accepting a local license from the Mount Gale Missionary Baptist Church in Preston, Arkansas. On November 1, 1893, Mason entered the Arkansas Baptist College, but withdrew after three months because of his dissatisfaction with their curriculum and methodology.
At this period Mason became enamored with the autobiography of Amanda Berry Smith, an African Methodist Episcopal church evangelist. Smith had converted to the new wave of Holiness that was spreading during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Those who had accepted the Holiness message testified to being "sanctified" and cleansed from sin. Mason claimed sanctification and began preaching the doctrine of Holiness and Sanctification in the local Baptist churches. In 1895, Mason also became acquainted with Charles Price Jones, a popular Baptist preacher from Mississippi who shared his enthusiasm for Holiness teachings, as well as J. E. Jeter from Little Rock, Arkansas, and W. S. Pleasant from Hazelhurst, Mississippi. These men spread the doctrine of Holiness and Sanctification throughout the African-American Baptist churches in Mississippi, Arkansas, and western Tennessee.
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