The General Assembly of the Church of God in Christ, Inc (COGIC) is the legislative body of the church that is in charge of upholding, and if needed, amending, the doctrines and religious by-laws of the Church of God in Christ.
The History and Composition General AssemblyEdit
The General Assembly is much like the Congress of the United States, because it makes the religious by-laws for the Church of God in Christ, and it has an Upper Chamber and a Lower Chamber. The General Assembly is composed of the members of the General Board, Jurisdictional/Auxiliary Bishops, Jurisdictional Supervisors of Women's Work, Pastors of Local Churches and Ordained Elders, and four District Missionaries and six lay members from each jurisdiction. The General Assembly elects a 12-person General Board (Presidium) every four years from the college of bishops who serve functionally as apostles of the church. The Presidium includes a separately elected International Presiding Bishop by the General Assembly who serves a term of four years who then appoints two assistant presiding bishops.
The history of the General Assembly dates back to the time of Bishop Mason and the founding of the Church of God in Christ. Bishop Mason created the General Assembly in the 1930's to create religious by-laws for the church denomination. When it started out, the General Assembly only had about 40 members, but now the General Assembly has over 400 members.