Chandler David Owens Sr

Chandler David Owens, Sr. (October 1, 1931 – March 6, 2011) was an American minister, youth organizer and ordained pastor in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), for which he served as the Presiding Bishop from 1996 to 2000. After the death of Bishop Louis Henry Ford

Early life

Bishop Owens was born in Birmingham, Alabama,^[1] to Elder William Owens and Martha [Thomas] Owens.^[2] The fifth of eight children, Bishop Owens and his family attended the Smithfield Church of God in Christ in Birmingham. When Elder William Owens was assigned to pastor the Power View Church of God in Christ, his son assumed the role of Junior Pastor and served as a driver to the church’s founder Bishop Charles Harrison Mason. In June of 1950, after Owens had graduated from A.H Parker High School, the family moved to Detroit and worshiped under the pastorate of Bishop John Bailey.^[3]

Pastorates

After moving to Newark, New Jersey, Bishop Owens was assigned his first pastorate at the Wells Cathedral Church of God in Christ and was consecrated Bishop of New Jersey's Third Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.^[4] In 1976 he became the youngest bishop elected to the General Board of the COGIC,^[5] a position he held until his death.

During this period Bishop Owens also served the church in a number of additional capacities including as International President of the Youth Congress, Chairman of the Constitution Committee, Second Assistant Presiding Bishop and First Assistant Presiding Bishop.^[6] He moved to Georgia to serve as Pastor of the Greater Community Church of God In Christ in Marietta and, subsequently, as the Prelate of Central Georgia Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.^[7]

In 1995, after the death of Bishop L. H. Ford, Bishop Owens was elected Presiding Bishop of the church.^[8] During his tenure as Presiding Bishop, he served on several committees under President Bill Clinton's administration and hosted the President at the International Annual Holy Convocation in Memphis, Tennessee, the Bishop's Conference in Washington, DC, and the International Women’s Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[9] He served a presiding bishop until 2000 when Bishop G. E. Patterson was elected to the post.^[10]

Death

Bishop Owens died in Atlanta at the age of 79.^[11] He left behind his wife Mrs. Shirley Owens and three children, Chandler David II and Chandra Stephanie. A third daughter Shirilitha Jeanette is now deceased.

Honors and awards

In August of 1995 Bishop Owens was declared an Arkansas Traveler by Governor Jim Guy Tucker, and in August of 1996 was presented the key to the city of Birmingham, Alabama, by Councilman Aldrich Gunn. October 26, 2003 was officially declared "Bishop Chandler David Owens Day" in Newark, NJ, by Mayor Sharpe James. In March 2011 Bishop Owens was posthumously presented the Phoenix Award by Atlanta Mayor Kassim Reed.

References

US Black church denominations and leaders General Black church Religion in Black America Historically African-American Christian denominations Clergy Methodist African Methodist Episcopal Church (John Adams, Sr. Richard Allen Sarah Allen Benjamin W. Arnett George Lincoln Blackwell Morris Brown Jamal Harrison Bryant John Richard Bryant Richard H. Cain Archibald Carey, Jr. Daniel Coker James H. Cone James Levert Davis Jordan Winston Early Floyd H. Flake Carolyn Tyler Guidry Sarah E. Gorham William H. Heard Reginald Jackson Henrietta Phelps Jeffries Absalom Jones Ben Kinchlow Vashti Murphy McKenzie Biddy Mason Lena Doolin Mason Robert Meacham Lyman S. Parks Daniel Payne Charles H. Pearce Clementa C. Pinckney William Paul Quinn Reverdy Cassius Ransom Richard Henry Singleton Charles Spencer Smith Theophilus Gould Steward Henry McNeal Turner William Tecumseh Vernon D. Ormonde Walker Lewis Woodson) African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (Julia A. J. Foote Thomas James John Kinard Jermain Wesley Loguen William Henry Singleton John Bryan Small Jeffery Tribble James Varick Alexander Walters) A.U.M.P. Church (Peter Spencer) Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (William Yancy Bell William H. Miles) Baptist National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. (Stewart Cleveland Cureton Joseph H. Jackson T. J. Jemison Henry Lyons Benjamin Mays W. J. Simmons) Progressive National Baptist Convention (Ralph Abernathy William Augustus Jones, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gardner C. Taylor) Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (Vernon Johns) First African Baptist Church (Richmond, Virginia) (Lucy Goode Brooks) First African Baptist Church (Savannah, Georgia) (David George) First Baptist Church (Petersburg, Virginia) Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship (Paul S. Morton) Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association Joint National Baptist Convention Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention (Lott Cary Clinton Caldwell Boone) National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. (R. H. Boyd) National Missionary Baptist Convention of America (S. M. Lockridge) National Primitive Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. Silver Bluff Baptist Church United American Free Will Baptist Church (Benjamin Randall) United American Free Will Baptist Conference Pentecostal Church of God in Christ (Charles E. Blake Andraé Crouch Sandra Crouch J. Delano Ellis Robert Michael Franklin, Jr. Samuel Green, Jr. Edwin Hawkins O. T. Jones, Sr. John P. Kee Charles Harrison Mason Chandler David Owens Sr Gilbert E. Patterson J. O. Patterson, Jr. Wayne Perryman Ted Thomas, Sr. F. D. Washington Dickerson Wells Timothy Wright Lennox Yearwood) Apostolic Assemblies of Christ Apostolic Faith Church (William J. Seymour) Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith (Robert C. Lawson) Church of Universal Triumph, Dominion of God (James F. Jones) Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas Mount Sinai Holy Church of America (Ida B. Robinson) Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (Charles H. Ellis III) Reformed Zion Union Apostolic Church United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God, Incorporated United Holy Church of America United Sabbath-Day Adventist Church Other African Orthodox Church (George Alexander McGuire) Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. (Charles Price Jones) Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America City of Refuge UCC (Yvette Flunder) Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation (George Augustus Stallings, Jr.) Interdenominational Theological Center Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge Love Center Church (Walter Hawkins) Original Church of God or Sanctified Church Spencer Churches (Peter Spencer) Spiritual Israel Church and Its Army Trinity United Church of Christ (Otis Moss III) United House of Prayer for All People (Marcelino Manuel da Graca)