THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST is a Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in which the word of God is preached, ordinances are administered and the doctrine of sanctification or holiness is emphasized, as being essential to the salvation of mankind. Our Church is commonly known as being Holiness or Pentecostal in nature because of the importance ascribed to the events which occurred on the Day of Pentecost, the 50th day after the Passover, or Easter as being necessary for all believers in Christ Jesus to experience.
Our Church is also considered to be a member of the great Protestant body though it did not directly evolve from the European or English Reformation but had its origin within the General Association to the Baptist Church .
Under Bishop Mason's spiritual and apostolic direction our church has grown from ten congregations in 1907, to the largest Pentecostal group in America . The membership of the Church of God in Christ grew from three million in 1973 to an estimated 5.2 million in 1997.
Churches under the parent body in Memphis , Tennessee , are now established throughout the United States , on every continent, and in many of the islands of the sea.