The United Churches of God in Christ, Inc.
is a Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in which the word of God is
preached, the ordinances instituted by Christ are administered
and the doctrine of sanctification is emphasized as being essential
to the salvation of mankind.
Our Great Church is commonly known as being:
1. Holiness in nature because we believe that born-again believers should seek to receive the Baptism with the Holy Ghost subsequent to conversion.
2. Pentecostal in practice because of the importance we ascribe to the events which occurred on the Day of Pentecost as being necessary for all Christian believers to experience.
3. Protestant in polity, though we did not directly evolve from the European/English Reformation, but have our origin within the Church of God in Christ, Inc. (headquartered in Memphis, TN).
Bishop Marshall Carter,
who later became the founder and organizer of the United Churches of God
in Christ, Inc., was given the name “Junior Carter” at his
birth. He was born August 17, 1920, in Lilburn (Gwinnett County),
Georgia, to the late Mr. Marshall Carter and Mrs. Lemma Carter. In his
early life, he worked on his father’s farm. Later he became a trained
mechanic, a Mason, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps (World
War II), he retired from Rheem Manufacturing Company, where he was the
secretary of the AFL-CIO and he also retired from General Motors
Corporation. His name was changed to “Marshall” (like his
father), upon joining the Marines.
His life was forever changed while working at a place
called, “Briarcliff Laundry”. There he met the woman that he
referred to as his “other self”, the late Mother Lillie
Fanning Carter. They were joined in Holy Matrimony on November
9, 1940. To this union, four children were born: (1) the late Patricia
Carter Logan, (2) Dr. Larry Carter, (3) Dr. Myra Carter Warner and
(4) Jayetta Carter McFarlin.
Bishop Carter
came into holiness in 1952 at the Jones Avenue Church of God
in Christ, under the leadership of the late Bishop George
Briley. He served faithfully as an Ordained Deacon, the Sunday
School Superintendent and the Guitarist. He accepted his call into the
ministry in 1956. The then “Minister & Sister Carter”
established and organized the Lynwood Park Church of God in Christ
on January 15, 1959 and he was ordained as an Elder in March,
1959. In 1974, Bishop Briley (who had become the Prelate of the
Northwestern Georgia Jurisdiction COGIC) appointed Elder Carter as
the Superintendent of the Lynwood Park District. After
the untimely passing of Bishop Briley in 1976, Superintendent Carter was
appointed by COGIC’s Presiding Bishop, the late Bishop James
O. Patterson, Sr., as his liaison for the Northwestern Georgia
Jurisdiction. In 1979, Bishop J. O. Patterson decided to
dissolve the Northwestern Georgia Jurisdiction and the pastors of
the jurisdiction were given an ultimatum to unite with one of the other
jurisdictions in the State of Georgia. Superintendent Carter,
joined by a great majority of the pastors from the dissolved
jurisdiction, organized the Church of God in Christ Incorporated
of Georgia as an Independent Fellowship that would
“report to” and remain under the authority of the Church of God
in Christ, Inc., headquartered in Memphis, TN. It was hoped that
Bishop Patterson would “recognize” the Independent Fellowship
and allow them to once again become a jurisdiction. By the end of 1979,
it became apparent that the Fellowship was not going to be recognized by
the Memphis Body. In addition to that, pastors from other states
desired to join Superintendent Carter’s organization. Through much
prayer, God led him to break “ties” with the Memphis Body and to
establish a Reformation that would bring “unity” to the Body of Christ.
In obedience to God, the Church of God in Christ Incorporated of
Georgia was dissolved and the United Churches of God in
Christ, Inc. was formed. On January 1, 1980,
Superintendent Marshall Carter was elevated to the
Bishopric and was formally affirmed and installed as the
first Chief Apostle & Presiding Bishop
of the United Churches of God in Christ, Inc.
Bishop Carter served faithfully until Sunday, June 22,
2003, when he made his triumphant entrance into his heavenly home,
at the age of 83. Upon the death of our founder, Bishop Aill
Mannie of Albany, Georgia, became the second Chief Apostle
& Presiding Bishop of our Great Church. During the 23rd
Annual Holy Convocation of the United Churches of God in Christ
(July, 2003), the General Assembly of the United Churches of
God in Christ, Inc. decided that the Office of the Presiding Bishop
would become an elected office, broken up into four year terms.
The General Assembly voted and decided that the election would
follow the same schedule as the Presidential Election in the
USA. The General Assembly set the first quadrennial election to
be held during the Annual Call Meeting in February, 2004. In
that election, Bishop Spencer Lackey, Sr. of Decatur,
Georgia became the third Chief Apostle & Presiding Bishop
of the Church. In January, 2009, the General Assembly
allowed Bishop Aaron B. Lackey, Sr. to hold the office of
Chief Apostle & Presiding Bishop for a thirteen (13) month
interim period. On February 27, 2010, UCOGIC’s General
Assembly elected and ratified Bishop Aaron B. Lackey, Sr.
as its fourth Chief Apostle & Presiding Bishop.
Under Bishop A. B. Lackey’s spiritual and apostolic
direction, the United Churches of God in Christ, Inc. is experiencing
tremendous growth and expansion. Churches under the parent body
(headquartered in Fairburn, GA) are now established throughout the
continental United States, the Bahamas, the Republic of South Africa,
the Philippines and Nigeria.
The United Churches of God in Christ, Inc., are “Exemplifying Holiness, with a Standard of Excellence!”