The art of oration may be one of the most underrated arts in the United States today and one of the most under appreciated as well because most of our verbal information arrives through the medium of radio or television.

By JAMES W. WADE III

Staff Reporter

The art of oration may be one of the most underrated arts in the United States today and one of the most under appreciated as well because most of our verbal information arrives through the medium of radio or television.

There is, however, one bastion of this art form which fights for survival on a weekly basis and is pervasive enough that few people in this country live more than five or ten miles away from the church, the Afro-American sermon.

The Black sermon is stated in the vernacular, with inflection and timing so musical that many have compared it in style to improvised jazz. One such style comes out of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) under the great leadership of Bishop Charles Blake.

Cathedral Church of God in Christ, located at 2940 Martin Luther King Drive in Cleveland, is one of many great GOGIC churches in the United States. Under the guidance of Bishop Floyd E. (FE) Perry, this church thrives.

For over 50 years in the ministry, Bishop Perry has been dedicated to ministering to people of all races and denominations and saving hundreds. Since 1974, Bishop Perry has led the Ohio South Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ.

Over that time, his ministry gave birth to six pastors, the Elder John Banks of Houston Texas, Elder Donnie Frith of Washington DC, his son Elder Mark L. Perry, Elder Wardell Harris of Cleveland, Elder Charles Spidell of Jacksonville Florida, and the late Elder James C. Scott. Through Bishop Perry’s orchestration, the last five presiding bishops of the Church of God in Christ have all ministered in the city of Cleveland. One of Bishop Perry’s greatest delights is his annual event “Christmas in July” that he sponsors every year.

For the last 10 years, this event as enabled him to serve food, clothing, school supplies, and toys to the community. The Black sermon today is at the historical height of its form. More and more preachers are entering the ministry, schooled by radio evangelists and pastors, and using them as a springboard for their own personal improvisational technique.

The Cathedral Church of God in Christ congregation is the ultimate judge as to the effectiveness of their great preacher and, since those days on East 105th to now, this congregation probably has never been greater. Music is an essential part of any COGIC church. You can come in on any given Sunday and hear the song bird Connie Tramell leading the choir in a “hot number.” From the streets of Cleveland to Memphis where Dr. Mattie Moss Clark served as the president of the National Music Department of the Church of God in Christ for over 25 years music, she has set the tone for a GOGIC service.

We believe the Bible to be the inspired and only infallible written word of God. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons… God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We believe in the Blessed Hope, which is the rapture of the Church of God, which is in Christ at His return. We believe that the only means of being cleansed from sin is through repentance, faith in the precious Blood of Jesus Christ, and being baptized in water. We believe that regeneration by the Holy Ghost is absolutely essential for personal salvation. We believe that the redemptive work of Christ on the cross provides healing for the human body in answer to believing in prayer.

We believe that the baptism in the Holy Ghost, according to Acts 2:4, is given to believers who ask for it. We believe in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, by whose in dwelling, the Christian is enabled to live a Holy and separated life in this present world is their church statement.

Bishop Perry is the founder and president of the ministerial organization known as the Church of God in Christ/Pentecostal Connection. This is a non profit group that fosters community development in the state of Ohio. Bishop Perry is presently the second vice president of the Cleveland Chapter of the NAACP, a board member of the Kym Sellers Foundation, and a member of the Cleveland Chapter of the SCLC.

Bishop Perry is a graduate of the Charles Harrison Mason System of Bible College and has served as staff member and in the cabinet during the late Bishop J. O. Patterson tenure. Bishop Perry is married to Jonelle Perry and are the proud parents of one daughter Dr. Lanelle Perry, two sons the Rev. Mark L. Perry and Courtney W. Perry.