From our earliest international efforts to today’s vibrant office of Black Ministries, men and women of African descent have been integral to Church of God ministries for more than a century. Some examples reveal the long-term importance of our black leaders.
Edmond and Rebecca Barr are the earliest known black members of the Church of God. It was Edmond Barr who provided our first international connection. Barr was a black Bahamian who immigrated to Florida where he met and married native Floridian Rebecca. When A.J. Tomlinson credentialed both Edmond and Rebecca as evangelists on May 31, 1909, they likely were the first black ministers in the Church of God.
Soon after joining the Church of God, the Barrs realized the importance of taking the Pentecostal message to his homeland. They ministered in the Bahamas from November 1909 until they returned to Miami to pastor in 1912. General Overseer Tomlinson ordained Edmond as a bishop in 1912, which gave him the authority to establish churches and grant ministerial credentials. Edmond served as pastor and planted congregations throughout Florida, while Rebecca fulfilled her calling as an evangelist.
In 1915, General Overseer Tomlinson appointed Bishop Barr as overseer of black churches. This appointment reflected the challenges of segregated American culture that the laws of the land demanded at that time. Beginning with Thomas J. Richardson in 1922, black overseers were appointed at a national level until 1958.
In our earliest years, the majority of black congregations in the United States were planted among immigrants from the Caribbean. J.H. Curry was especially active in establishing immigrant congregations. A native of the Bahamas, John Henry Curry served as pastor of the prominent Fifth Avenue Church of God in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was national overseer of the “Church of God Colored Work” from 1928 to 1939, and served on the Church of God Executive Council from 1932 to 1938. Under his leadership black churches built an orphanage and school in Eustis, Florida, and an auditorium in Jacksonville.
Peter C. Hickson was licensed as an evangelist in 1931 and appointed to his first pastorate in Umatilla, Florida. Recognizing the importance of youth, he worked to establish youth ministries in many black congregations, encouraged the Church of God Evangel to publish youth resources, became national president of the Young People’s Endeavor in the
“Church of God Colored Work,” and edited the Church of God Herald, which evolved from a youth magazine to the official voice of black congregations in the Church of God.
Toward the end of segregation in the South, Calvin C. Daniels was appointed overseer of black churches in Mississippi. He served as overseer from 1957 until 1970 and was instrumental
in establishing at least nine congregations. A pastor for more than fifty years, Bishop Daniels was especially influential in keeping black congregations within the Church of God during a time when many African-Americans were attracted to majority black denominations.
As the Church of God began to advance beyond segregation, we began to appoint black leaders to regional and national posts that would eventually lead to establishing our current office of Black Ministries, led by Dr. Ken Hill. There are dozens of successful pastors, such as Hugh Bair in Baltimore and Hugh Nelson in Brooklyn, NY. Among the many influential black leaders of today are regional overseers Jonathan Ramsey, Jr. and Wayne Solomon, International Executive Council members Daniel Vassell and Ishmael Charles, field director of the Caribbean and former Council member Fedlyn Beason, national evangelist Jacqueline Smith and, of course, our current secretary general, Dr. Wallace Sibley.