Denominations Mourn Loss of Pentecostal Bishops

The Church of God in Christ and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World are mourning the loss of two prominent bishops.

On Sunday, Bishop Allie T.
Moore (pictured at left), the last surviving bishop to be appointed by Church of God in Christ
(COGIC) founder C.H. Mason, died in his Louisville, Ky., home at the age of 98.

Moore had been appointed leader
of the denomination’s Kentucky jurisdiction in 1947 and for more than 60 years had served
as pastor of 19th and Cedar COGIC in Louisville, which was renamed
Moore Temple COGIC in 1985 to honor its pastor.

Moore’s death follows that of
Bishop Norman L. Wagner, former presiding bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies
of the World (PAW). He died Jan. 30 in a Youngstown, Ohio, hospital, roughly two weeks after having heart surgery. He was 68.

Wagner (pictured at left) served as pastor of Mount
Calvary Pentecostal Church in Youngstown, now known as Calvary Ministries
International, for nearly 40 years. Named one of the country’s 100 outstanding
black clergy, Wagner led the PAW, a Oneness Pentecostal denomination with more
than 1.5 million members worldwide, from 1998 to 2004. He also founded the
European Council of Nations, a network of 40 churches in Europe.

A respected singer, songwriter
and arranger, Wagner was nominated with his choir for two Stellar Gospel Music
Awards. He also hosted The Power of Pentecost
television program, which aired nationally and internationally. 

Raised in a Baptist church,
Moore embraced Pentecostalism in 1933 after hearing a COGIC minister preach at a church in
Columbus, Ky. He went on to lead revival services across the state before settling in
Louisville, where he married Robbie Lee Cobb in 1940 and became pastor of 19th
and Cedar COGIC.

COGIC honored Moore as a “living
legend” during the tenure of the late Bishop L.H. Ford. In 2003, the
denomination recognized him as the last living jurisdictional bishop to
personally have been appointed by its founder.

A funeral service for Wagner was
held Wednesday in Youngstown. Bishop Horace Smith, current head of the PAW,
gave the eulogy. Gospel artists Marvin Winans, CeCe Winans,
BeBe Winans and Jonathan Nelson performed at a memorial concert for Wagner
Monday.

Funeral
arrangements for Moore have not been announced.