Sunday, January 14, 2018

How Bishop Charles Harrison Mason Got His Start

By Scott Bennett


Many people know who this many is, but not many have heard the full story of where he came from. This is because it is a long story marked by many accomplishments and years of hard work, and goes to unexpected places. Although many people now recognize him as the founder of one of the largest Pentecostal Holiness churches, Bishop Charles Harrison Mason had a life that was full of many highs and lows.

In Shelby County, Tennessee was where this man was born and grew up. His parents were named Jerry and Eliza, and they had both became slaves before they moved to this unincorporated area and started working as sharecroppers. Not having very much money or access to resources, Charles got his education from reading and hearing about the Bible rather than by going to school.

The first time anyone joins a church is a very special experience, and it can change a person's life. It can be all the more special when the person carrying out the baptism is a relative or someone special in the person's life, and so it was a very special ceremony when Mason's half-brother baptized him. This was in 1879 at a Baptist church, and he was twelve.

Trouble arose in 1880 when both tuberculosis and yellow fever were spreading around the area of Shelby County, and Mason fell sick to tuberculosis when he was fourteen. In those days, hospitals would not treat African Americans, and the medical centers for African Americans didn't have enough money or trained experts. The result was many people needlessly dying, including Mason's father Jerry.

After the death of his father, this family had no choice but to move. They went to Arkansas to a small town called Preston, and it was a difficult transition since Mason's health had still not returned to him from his bout of tuberculosis. When he was at his very worst, his family desperately prayed for him to get better, and he was healed miraculously.

While this many devoted almost all of his life to God's Ministry, he did not always want to be a clergyman. When he was young, he told his parents that he only wanted to be a regular member of the church. However, after he was amazingly healed of tuberculosis after his family's prayers, he decided that God had saved him for the purpose of calling him to his ministry.

The first step for any minister to begin the spiritual journey of their career is to become licensed. That is what Mason did in 1893, and it was an important moment and big decision for him since he had decided that it was his personal duty. He was 27 years old at the time, and he then went to Arkansas to a Baptist church.

One of the hardest things to do in professional situations is to disagree with one's peers. Since Mason knew firmly what he believed in and wanted to represent it and nothing else, he was able to take action and left the first Baptist church he was working at after only being there a short time. He felt that their views were too liberal.




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