• 5928 Trowbridge Dr. ~ El Paso, Texas 79905
  Phone: (915) 778-1749
  Fax: (915) 775-1961
  Website: www.texaswesternjurisdictioncogic.org
• Jurisdiction’s Email:texaswesternjurisdictioncogic@gmail.com

Jurisdictional Secretary
Evangelist Addie Akers-Taylor
A.AKERSTAYLORTWJSEC@gmail.com

PR: Minister Sharonne JoyJoy Jacobs
email: sharonne.jacobs@att.net  or  sharonne@sbcglobal.net

Facebook:
www.Facebook.com/twjcogic

Twitter:
www.Twitter.com/twjcogic

Youtube:
www.Youtube.com/twjcogic

Instagram:
www.instagram.com/BishopJ.O.Lawson

Reverend Karen Wilson
TWJ Urban Initiatives, Chair

Church of God in Christ Urban Initiative
“Building healthy individuals, families and communities for a successful future”

DEPARTMENTS
• Education
• Economic Development
• Crime Reduction
• Family Life
• Financial Literacy
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VISION & MISSION
The vision of COGIC Urban Initiatives is to build healthy individuals, families and communities for a successful future.
The Message Behind the Vision

COGIC Urban Initiatives is the vision of Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake birthed out of his deep concern about poor academic achievement, financial disenfranchisement, high unemployment, soaring crime levels, the desperate state of the black man and the breakdown of the family that plagues our cities, small and large, urban and rural.

COGIC Urban Initiatives will assist our 12,000 churches within the United States by making available to them programs and strategies that address:

Education (Access, Excellence and Equity)
Economic Development (Job Training and Job Creation)
Crime Prevention (Reduction, Prevention and Rehabilitation)
Family Life (Developing Healthy Men, Women and Children)
Financial Literacy (Earning, Saving, Investing, and Spending Wisely)

Attacking the problem from these interrelated perspectives simultaneously will maximize the likelihood of success.

COGIC Urban Initiatives will provide all churches, regardless of size or location, with encouragement, inspiration, information, consultation and programs to achieve real and measurable change.
The bishop’s goal is to have one program for each initiative in place at each church. That’s 60,000 programs.

MISSION
The Mission of COGIC Urban Initiatives is to empower the local church to implement programs that address Education, Economic Development, Crime, Family and Financial Literacy. Those programs will result in measurable improvement in the quality of life for individuals, families and communities served by the Church of God in Christ. We will do this by identifying and replicating best practices from our churches as well as external resources, and making them easily available to all churches utilizing technology and other resources.

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EDUCATION
The Mission of the Education Initiative:
Our mission is to identify and make available programs that focus on giving individuals equal to access to an excellent education. In the long term, we will witness visible transformation within families and communities as men, women and children as empowered with the ultimate prerequisite to success—a good education.
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Mission of the Economic Development Initiative:
Our mission is to identify and make available programs that result in new jobs being created, and provide job training. In the long term, we will witness visible transformation within families and communities as individuals are given the means and the tools to achieve a living wage.
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CRIME REDUCTION
The Mission of the Crime Reduction Initiative:
To identify and make available programs that reduce crime and lower recidivism rates for past offenders. In the long term, we will witness visible transformation within families and communities as individuals learn to successfully navigate positive, alternate routes to securing food, shelter, clothing, inclusion and acceptance.
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FAMILY LIFE
The Mission of the Family Life Initiative:
To identify and make available programs that focus on improving the quality of life within the nuclear family. In the long term, we will witness visible transformation within families and communities as men, women and children are given the tools to achieve a thriving, productive, wholesome, spiritual family environment.
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FINANCIAL LITERACY
The Mission of the Financial Literacy Initiative:
To identify and make available programs that result in enlightened individuals who Earn, Save, Invest and Spend Wisely. In the long term, we will witness visible transformation within families and communities as individuals learn to develop and execute sound long term financial plans focused on creating, growing and managing wealth.
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First Admin. Asst. Glenn Murchison
Interim Dean

HISTORY OF THE C.H. MASON BIBLE INSTITUTE

The core concern of the Founding Father of the Church of God In Christ, the late Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, was that those drawn to the confession of faith that he espoused ; would become fully instructed in that faith and go on to lead lives as productive and creative Christians.

This basic concern was deeply rooted in the teaching of Jesus who taught that those whose lives have been touched, converted and transformed by His Life would go on to change others lives and the humankind. Bishop Mason’s theology was biblical theology, which was developed out of years of personally searching the Bible and seeking the will of God for his life. History verifies that his long search ended in Los Angeles, California in 1907. It was the year that he received the Third Work of Grace, the Holy Ghost and spoke in Tongues as the Spirit gave utterance.

The Founding Father of the Church of God in Christ was not only a student of the bible, he was also a student of secular education. Bishop Mason’s academic pursuits lead him to Arkansas Baptist College, from which he departed and founded a new educational venture at Lexington, Mississippi: Saints Industrial Academy, Saints Junior College.

In 1970, another giant step was taken to further enhance the education endeavor, the Charles Harrison Mason Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. The (TWJ) C.H. Mason Bible Institute was established in 1997 to begin training for the ministers who were in the process of obtaining their Elders/Evangelist Ordination Certificate. Recently, there has been an addition to the C.H. Mason Institute, the Missionary Licensing Division. This division functions as the training element for the licensing of Missionary/Evangelist.

VISION STATEMENT
To give the student a thorough intellectual and spiritual knowledge of the Word of God, so that he/she may understand Bible doctrine and Bible truth, so that he/she maybe wise in appropriating that truth to their life.

MISSION STATEMENT
The Texas Western Jurisdiction (TWJ) C.H. Mason Bible Institute exists as a certificate and licensing element for adult education, primarily for those called to the Christian ministry in a leadership capacity. To provide advanced training and equipping in biblical and doctrinal studies, ministry skills and leadership skills so they may be prepared to do the “work of the ministry.”

REGISTRATION
All students should register during the scheduled registration period. Registration fee of $10.00 is due upon registration. Late registration will continue two weeks after registration period, a late fee will be charged.

BOOKS
All books and supplies will be the responsibility of the students.

REFUNDS
The registration fee is non-refundable.

GRADING SYSTEM
All academic work is graded according to the following standards:

A=Outstanding………4
B=Above Average…….3
C=Average………….2
D=Below Average…….1
F=Failing………….0

INSTRUCTORS

COURSES
MI201…..Homiletics                                                  (Fundamentals of Sermon Preparation)
MI200…..COGIC History, Doctrine, Polity       (Understanding COGIC)
MI202…..Hermeneutics                             (Fundamentals of Biblical Interpretation and Exegesis)
BI130…..New Testament Survey                        (Overview of the New Testament)
MI210…..Ministry Essentials                     (Worship Services, Ministerial Ethics, Pulpit Decorum)

Missionary/Evangelist Division

COURSES
ME100…..Homily Preparation
ME200…..Missionary Etiquette/Ethics
ME202…..Hermeneutics
ME300…..Overview OT/NT
ME400…..COGIC History, Doctrine, Polity
ME500…..Evangelism

Registration
Information coming soon…

Founded in 1996

MISSION

To unify the efforts of Pentecostal churches in their attempts to evangelize the people of El Paso/Juarez and surrounding areas.

To ensure uniformity and integrity of the basic Christian doctrines believed in and accepted by Pentecostal Christians.

To provide a means of administrative accountability, one to the other, among the Pastors and spiritual leaders of our churches.

To ensure uniform standards for licensing, ordaining, and giving of credentials to all ministerial orders.

To provide seminars, etc., to and for Pastors and leaders that will promote their effectiveness and growth as Christian leaders.

To provide true Christian fellowship among our Pastors, leaders, and members (via District Meetings, Jurisdictional Meetings, etc.).

TO ASSIST OUR PASTORS, LEADERS, AND MEMBERS IN OPTIMIZING, REALIZING, AND ACTUALIZING THEIR GOD-GIVEN POTENTIAL BOTH NATURALLY AND SPIRITUALLY.

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VISION

WE ENVISION a Jurisdiction of at least 100 member churches whose members in large part are faithful to the doctrine of the Church of God in Christ, seeking first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness and seeking to have spiritual minds.

WE ENVISION a Jurisdiction that is financially able to establish and finance churches with prepared and competent young pastors who understand and are willing to endeavor to fulfill the mission of the Jurisdiction and the Church of God in Christ, Inc.

WE ENVISION a Jurisdiction with its credentialed ministers to have completed required ministerial courses via our C. H. MASON BIBLE INSTITUTE  and to have a desire to learn to show themselves approved, workmen unto GOD who need not be ashamed.

WE ENVISION a Jurisdiction which can offer significant assistance to our members and youth to realize and optimize their God-given spiritual and natural potential via scholarships, seminars, and programs of instruction and inspiration.

We believe the Bible to be the inspired and only infallible written Word of God.

We believe that there is only 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 and faith in the precious Blood of Jesus Christ.

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 prayer.

We believe that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to Acts 2:4, is given to believers who ask for Him.

We believe in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a holy and separated life in the present world.

Bishop Lawson  served as the Senior Pastor of the Holy Light Church since its inception in 1979 until August 11, 2024 .  He then resumed being the Senior Pastor of the Holy Light Church in September 2025  and yet serves as its Chairman of the Board of Directors.  Under his leadership, the church experienced significant growth numerically and spiritually . Bishop Lawson’s commendable leadership and administrative abilities coupled with the God-given vision for the multi-cultural growth of the Church of God in Christ in the El Paso, Texas, area were major factors attributing to his elevation and consecration to the sacred office of Bishop in the Church of God in Christ on February 8, 1997, to be the jurisdictional prelate of the newly formed Texas Western Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ, Incorporated. The new jurisdiction was formed because of the energetic and God-given efforts of Bishop Lawson. The Holy Light Church of God in Christ, Inc. is the jurisdictional headquarters.

The multi-cultural nature of the Texas Western Jurisdiction is reflected not only by the membership of individual churches, but by the fact that the jurisdiction has a number of Spanish speaking congregations. Bishop Lawson is bilingual and translated the Church of God in Christ Official Manual into Spanish for the benefit of all Spanish speaking churches and members of the Church of God in Christ.

Bishop Lawson’s academic and professional background includes twenty-five (25) years as a professor of physics at the University of Texas at El Paso. During his tenure at the University of Texas at El Paso (retiring in 1992), he served in various administrative positions to include the position of Chairman, Department of Physics, and Dean, College of Science.

He was the first Black to hold such positions in the University of Texas System. Bishop Lawson has been consistently saluted by the community and academia for his achievements and contributions. He holds a B.S. degree in physics from Virginia State College (now Virginia State University) and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from Howard University. He has published numerous scientific articles in refereed professional physics journals.  He also is the author of two Christian books: STRIVING, SURVIVING, AND THRIVING AMONG FALLEN ANGELS (Tate Publishing, 2005) and IS ABUNDANT LIVING FOR ALL CHRISTIANS? (Tate Publishing, 2006).

Bishop Lawson is the devoted husband of Mrs. Jene L. Lawson and the loving father of two adult children: Michael S. Lawson, M.D., and Edith S. Lawson-Johnson, M.B.A., C.P.A., C.I.A. The Lawsons have three grandchildren: Willie Thomas Dunlap, Steven Paul Lawson, and Sylvia Elizabeth Lawson.