Author: Robert R. Owens, Ph.D.
Located in: Colonial Heights VA
Submitted: June 18, 2004
Tell us a little about yourself. I already have two history books on the market,
Speak to the Rock: The History of the Azusa
Street Revival: Its Roots and its Message (ISBN0-
7618-1881-2)[University Press of America], and
Never Forget!: The Dark Years of COGIC History
(ISBN1-591602-89-0) [Xulon]. I also wrote the
third chapter of The Century of the Holy Spirit:
One Hundred Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic
Renewal (ISBN 0-7852-4550-2) [Thomas Nelson]. I
am a regular contributor to Yes Lord! Now, a
magazine of reconciliation (www.yeslordnow.com).
RI am a pastor, author, musician, composer,
historian, and expert in Organizational
Leadership. I am the former Assistant Pastor of
Saints Home Church of God in Christ, the former
Senior Pastor of Goldmine Pentecostal Holiness
Church, and the current Senior Pastor of Bermuda
Pentecostal Holiness Church in Chester,
Virginia. I have also served as the Dean of the
School of Christian Ministries at Emmanuel
College. I have taught for Northern Arizona
University, Regent University, Yellowstone
Baptist College, and Emmanuel College. I
currently teaches History, Political Science,
Religion, and Leadership for Southside Virginia
Community College.
What was your motivation behind this project? To preserve some history that may have been
otherwise lost and to advance the understanding
of leadeship theory and practice
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? How to avoid the problems which often accompany
the transition from one leadership style to
another.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? Bishop Mason is one of my heros. His devotion,
his faith and his faithfulness are a great
inspiration to me. Dr. Vinson Synan has had a
great infliuence on my writing and my research.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: In Never Forget! I examine a period of transition
in the history of the Church of God in Christ
(COGIC). This period includes the years 1961 -
1968, from the death of the founder, Bishop C. H.
Mason to the installation of the first Presiding
Bishop. This is the first scholarly
reconstruction of the events of this period.
Then I use the resulting case study as the basis
for an analysis of the leadership styles and
organizational types, which precipitated,
endured, and resolved this period of
transformation in one of America's greatest
religious organizations.
