Founder: Bishop Charles E. Blake
Bishop Charles E. Blake serves as Presiding Bishop of the 6 million member Church of God in Christ, one of our nation's largest denominations. He also serves as the Jurisdictional Prelate of the First Jurisdiction of Southern California comprised of more than 250 churches.
He is the pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ with a membership of over 24,000. West Angeles is deeply involved in providing not only for the spiritual life of its people, but also it provides more than 80 programs for the psychological, social, and economic enhancement of the community.
As founder and CEO of Save Africa's Children, Bishop Blake oversees the support of more than 200 thousand children, in 400 orphan care programs, throughout more than 21 nations on the continent of Africa.
Bishop Blake was the founding Chairman of the Board of Directors for C.H. Mason Theological Seminary. He has served as an Executive Committee member on the Board of Directors of the Interdenominational Theological Seminary.
He has served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Oral Roberts University, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Charismatic Bible Ministries. In 2006 he served on the Los Angeles Board of the Azusa Centennial Celebration.
Bishop Blake has also formerly served as an Advisory Committee Member of the Pentecostal World Conference. He serves as the Chairman and Founder of the Los Angeles Ecumenical Congress (LAEC), an interdenominational coalition of religious leaders and pastors. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Religious Advisory Committee.
Bishop Blake has received numerous awards, commendations, and accolades. A few include: April 2007, the Distinguished Leadership Award presented by the African Presidential Archives and Research Center at Boston University, the 2006 Trumpet Award, the Salvation Army's William Booth Award, the Greenlining Institute's Big Heart Award, and the designated recipient of the L.A. Urban League's Whitney M. Young Award for the year 2000.
In 2003, Bishop Blake was awarded the Harvard Foundation Humanitarian Medal for his work with Save Africa's Children and its mission to support orphanages throughout that continent. February 5, 2004 was designated as Bishop Charles E. Blake Day by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. In December 2005, Save Africa's Children and Bishop Blake were featured in People Magazine and on CNN for World AIDS Day. In 2006, Bishop Blake joined the nationally televised ONE Campaign media initiative with other celebrities. More recently, Bishop Blake and Save Africa's Children were awarded the Courageous Leadership Award jointly sponsored by World Vision and the Willow Creek Association.
Bishop Blake is married to Mae Lawrence Blake. They have three children and seven grandchildren.
