The Church of God in Christ Inc (COGIC), the largest African American Christian denomination in the country, has invited Bankole Thompson, one of the most influential writers in media and politics and author of two books on President Obama, to serve as the Master of Ceremonies at the Aug.12 COGIC 2013 Inaugural Banquet at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Detroit.
The banquet is the official celebration of the re-election of the nationally renowned and powerful Bishop PA Brooks to the General Board of COGIC. Brooks was also re-appointed to the Office of First Assistant Presiding Bishop making him the number two minister overseeing the 6.5million membership of COGIC.
Bishop Brooks was re-appointed to the number two spot in COGIC by Presiding Bishop Charles Blake, who is a member of the White House faith-based initiative.
Bishop Blake is the keynote speaker at the Inaugural Banquet.
Bishop Brooks, one of the leading Christian voices on contemporary issues in America today, who was Guest Chaplain of the 102nd Congress, wrote the foreword to Bankole Thompson’s recent book on the Obama presidency titled “Obama and Christian Loyalty.”
Former White House spokesman Robert S. Weiner who wrote the epilogue to the book called Thompson “one of the most influential writers in the Obama era.” Bishop Brooks described Thompson who is editor of the Michigan Chronicle as a “voice that matters,” in the African American experience when he introduced Thompson as the Sunday morning keynote speaker at New St. Paul Tabernacle Church of God in Christ Black History celebration.
Thompson’s book deals with President Obama’s faith posture, the politics of the religious right, role of religion in American politics and the influence of black theology on black politics as well as the impact of Obama’s former pastor Rev Jeremiah Wright on the historic 2008 campaign. Thompson is one of the first black journalists in the nation to have a series of sit-down interviews with President Obama.
Bishop Brooks, the founding senior pastor of New St. Paul Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in Detroit, has been a critical and respected voice in the city’s civic and religious communities. He was the first religious leader in Detroit to call on former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to resign from office at the start of the scandals that rocked the city.
A man of impeccable integrity and insight, Brooks, is not swayed by political expediency and has used his national influence to address economic and political empowerment for African Americans. Through many projects including Faith Community Mortgage, Brooks continues to help African American homeowners deal with the mortgage crisis, and has been catalyst to a lot of initiatives that centered around empowering and enhancing the influence of African Americans in different industries.
As the jurisdictional leader of the Northeast Michigan- Ontario COGIC jurisdiction, Bishop Brooks presides over 300 bishops in Ontario, Canada, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, and has guided more than 50 ministers build new churches within the jurisdiction.
Bishop Brooks has met and prayed with world leaders including President Bill Clinton as well as anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, who welcomed him at the airport in South Africa when he visited that nation.
In his foreword to “Obama and Christian Loyalty,” Brooks wrote “Bankole Thompson knows and proves that outlining a correct relationship between American Christians and the President requires a careful look at the actual policies of the man and the real voice of Scripture, nothing less than an educated understanding of both politics and religion.”
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