BISHOP CHANDLER DAVID OWENS

(1931 - 2011)

Born in Birmingham, Alabama on October 2, 1931, BISHOP CHANDLER DAVID OWENS started preaching as a young child of about four or five years old, according to his testimony. His ministry spanned more than seven decades. Bishop Owens, with dedication and loyalty, served the Church Of God In Christ in various leadership roles, including International President of the Youth Congress, Chairman of the Constitution Committee Second Assistant, Presiding Bishop and First Assistant Presiding Bishop, Preacher, Teacher, Pastor of the Greater Community Church in Marietta, GA, and Prelate of the Central Georgia Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.

His heart for missions led him through financial and through various other means to establish churches, schools, and transportation for ministries in the Philippines, India, Malawi, and Central Africa.

In November 1996, the General Assembly selected Bishop Chandler Owens, Bishop Ford's First Assistant Presiding Bishop, as the fifth leader of the denomination.

As Presiding Bishop of the Church Of God In Christ, in 1998, Bishop Chandler Owens launched a new department within the COGIC Denomination: Bishop Chandler Owens instituted the C. H. Mason Historical Society as a new department (CHMHS). Elder Norvell V. Woolfolk was the founder of this organization (1996) and was appointed the International President of the foundation (1998).

Bishop Chandler Owens was a staunch defender of the Church Of God In Christ. He was always very outspoken, especially in situations when he found it necessary to stand for holiness. There were reports that Sun Myung Moon and his Unification offered Bishop Chandler Owens in excess of one million dollars for a pulpit address to the saints of the Church Of God In Christ in Memphis, Tennessee, in an effort to mainstream their heretical cult. Upon hearing the proposal, it is said that Bishop Chandler Owens responded by saying that "the Church Of God In Christ was not a prostitute or whore, and the pulpit of this Church is not for sale." On another occasion in Chicago, Illinois, Bishop Chandler Owens raised his concerns openly and vocally that the Church Of God In Christ had become open to the homosexual agenda, but reminded the Church that the COGIC was neither "Homosexual Central" nor a place where those in the sin of homosexuality should feel comfortable. He affirmed that the Church should not be open to nor affirm homosexuality in any manner.

Bishop Chandler Owens said that he had asked the Lord why he had left him on this earth as long as he did. The Lord responded "I left you here to . . . bring the Church Of God In Christ back to its original posture and roots, so that we will become a separate and distinct people." "God said that he called us out from among other people−not because we're better than those people, but because we are different, and we're willing to uphold the rules and regulations of holiness and that I could not do this alone; I would need the help of all the true saints."

In 1996, Bishop Chandler Owens called on the COGIC to "Rebuild The Walls" of orthodoxy to prevent the world's unclean spirits from invading the Church. In many places those walls have fallen. We have allowed the Church to be too open, and we have been invaded by all kinds of people. Bishop Owens stated that the Church used to be a sanctuary, now its a zoo. Everything from everywhere has crept into the Church Of God In Christ." "He said the Church has strayed too far from fundamentals." He said, "we are against same sex marriages. I don't care what another church does. In the Church Of God In Christ, a man - a real man - a "sho - nuf" man knows the difference between Old Spice and Chanel No. 5.....The Church Of God In Christ won't ordain sissies!" Bishop Chandler Owens passed away on Sunday, March 10, 2011 at 79 years of age in Atlanta, Georgia. An Internationally known leader, Bishop Chandler Owens, for more than 35 years, faithfully served as a member of the General Board and from 1995 to 2000 as the Presiding Bishop of the Church Of God In Christ.

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