J. Delano Ellis

J. Delano Ellis, II, an African American prelate, is a leader in African-American Pentecostalism in the United States and is the founding President/Chairman of the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops.

Currently the senior pastor of the Pentecostal Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio, Bishop Ellis is also the founder and former presiding prelate of the United Pentecostal Churches of Christ.^[1]

Bishop Ellis is widely known as a progenitor of unity among African-American Pentecostals. He has worked to introduce order, identity, and an appreciation of Christian history among Pentecostal churches.^[2][3] As a promoter of ecumenism, Bishop Ellis has put the Pentecostal movement, as it is manifested among African Americans, in conversation with the broader Christian community around the world.^[4]

J. Delano Ellis began as a clergyman in the Church of God in Christ before being asked to lead a local congregation outside of that denomination.

Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops

In the introduction to his landmark treatise, The Bishopric: A Handbook on Creating Episcopacy in the African-American Pentecostal Church,^[5] Bishop J. Delano Ellis writes:

When this College was ordered by the Lord and it was made clear that Episcopal-styled training was to become the curriculum by which we would be governed, the Co-Founders trusted the Lord to give us a person who would mentor us and bring honor to the Name of Jesus Christ and particular Glory to His Church in our times. It became needful for us to adopt a Code of Dress and habit that would set us apart from congregationalism. We found the need to re-think the theology of the Pentecostal fathers and forge a witness that included the entire Baptized Body of Jesus Christ everywhere. Our message had to be clear and unadulterated by the modernists. Our theology had to be cleansed of the separatist preaching which, for more than a century, kept Christians estranged from each other.

As such, the founders (J. Delano Ellis, Wilbert Sterling McKinley, Roy Edward Brown, and Paul S. Morton) of the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops expressed a desire to offer "assistance and training for the proliferated Episcopacy within the African-American Pentecostal Church" (Ellis, 17).

THE MISSION STATEMENT of the Joint College, credited to David Michael Copeland of San Antonio, TX, is as follows:

The Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops exists to train and educate newly appointed Bishops with a strong emphasis on healthy family development. The College will accomplish this goal by providing Seminars, Workshops, and opportunities for fellowship and spiritual covering for those who desire a standard of excellence in Ministry. Through a disciplined and structured environment, which promotes Biblical knowledge, spirituality, physical and emotional health, and prosperity, the College provides leadership and guidance and simplified answers to important ministerial issues, all in an effort to Preserve, Protect, and Promote the Testaments, Teachings and Traditions of the Church.

Works

• Ellis, J. Delano. The Bishopric: A Handbook on Creating Episcopacy in the African-American Pentecostal Church. Victoria, BC: Trafford. ISBN 155395848-9.

Volunteer Military Service

Chaplain (COL) J. Delano Ellis is the Chief of Chaplains, and a member of the Board of Directors, for the United States Army Cadet Corps and has served many years with the Civil Air Patrol

External links

• Bishop J. Delano Ellis Celebrates 45 Years in Ministry

Notes

1. ^ "Blake formally elected head of Church of God in Christ", Christian Century, 124 (November 2007)
2. ^ Banks, Adelle (1995)"Pentecostals dress like Catholic bishops", National Catholic Reporter, 31 (17)
3. ^ (1995) "Blacks Discover High Church", Christianity Today, 39 (5)
4. ^ (2000) "Signs of the Times", America, 182 (6)
5. ^ Ellis, J. Delano. The Bishopric: A Handbook on Creating Episcopacy in the African-American Pentecostal Church. Victoria, BC: Trafford, 2003

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