ABSTRACT
This essay focuses on the efforts of The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) as a historic black denomination to address COVID-19 in an informed and constructive manner. The episcopal letters of Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr., the presiding bishop of COGIC from 2007 to 2021, are analyzed, illustrating a religious perspective that critically engages health science. Through his establishment of a COVID-19 taskforce of physicians and clergy, Bishop Blake has published episcopal statements on the pandemic that advanced public health by promoting scientifically informed and medically sound measures that are consistent with Scripture and COGIC theology. Amidst other religious campaigns of misinformation about the pandemic, COGIC sought to interject valuable information and resources to the pivotal conversations about public health and race.
