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Sunday, 31 December 2017

The Early Life Of Bishop Charles Harrison Mason

By Scott Bennett


This man is honored by many as a prominent religious figure in the Pentecostal Holiness denomination. His many achievements throughout his lifetime of working to preach the word of God have led to many great things that still have resonating effects today. The church Bishop Charles Harrison Mason founded in Lexington, Mississippi has grown to be the largest of its kind.

In Shelby County, Tennessee was where this man was born and grew up. His parents were named Jerry and Eliza, and they had both became slaves before they moved to this unincorporated area and started working as sharecroppers. Not having very much money or access to resources, Charles got his education from reading and hearing about the Bible rather than by going to school.

His first time being a part of a church was in the year of 1879 when he was twelve years old, and it marked the beginning of church influencing his life. This was in Shelby County, not far from the area where he grew up, at a Baptist church. This a very personal and meaningful moment for him because it was his half-brother who performed the baptism.

Trouble arose in 1880 when both tuberculosis and yellow fever were spreading around the area of Shelby County, and Mason fell sick to tuberculosis when he was fourteen. In those days, hospitals would not treat African Americans, and the medical centers for African Americans didn't have enough money or trained experts. The result was many people needlessly dying, including Mason's father Jerry.

Sharecropping turned out impossible to carry on after the loss of Jerry, so the family then moved to the town of Preston. Moving was very hard for Mason since he was still very sick with tuberculosis, and at one point it seemed he would die. His family sat and prayed for him, and very quickly after that, he returned to full health.

Being a clergyman was not the lifelong dream of this man, although he spend most of his life driven by the passion of it. However, when he was young, he told his parents that he did not want to be a clergyman and that he would rather just be a normal church member. The event that changed his mind was when his health had taken a plunge from tuberculosis, and he was saved by his family's prayers.

It was in 1893 that Mason's license to be a minister was acquired. He was 27, and it marked the first step of his career that would last the rest of his life. From there, his work took him to a Baptist church in Arkansas, which would be his first hands-on experience as a minister.

One of the hardest things to do in professional situations is to disagree with one's peers. Since Mason knew firmly what he believed in and wanted to represent it and nothing else, he was able to take action and left the first Baptist church he was working at after only being there a short time. He felt that their views were too liberal.




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