Discussion of Religious Place

The “Pentecostal” or “Holiness” churches the second largest and fastest growing Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Originally established in several southern states—Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas—the Church of God in Christ grew from 3 million members in 1973 to an estimated 8 million in 1997. Today, its membership extends well beyond the borders of the United States, with churches on every continent and in the Caribbean.

The church's founder, Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, was born September 8, 1866, in Memphis, Tennessee, to working-class parents who were members of the Missionary Baptist Church. In 1878, when Mason was twelve years ...