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President appoints Southland minister to faith-based advisory council
President Obama has appointed a prominent Southland minister to his advisory council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says Bishop Charles Blake leads one of Los Angeles’ largest African-American congregations.
President Obama has appointed a prominent Southland minister to his advisory council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says Bishop Charles Blake leads one of Los Angeles’ largest African-American congregations.
Cheryl Devall: About 24,000 people call West Angeles Church of God in Christ their spiritual home. In the 40 years that Charles Blake has headed the congregation, he’s expanded its ministries that include a day school, prison outreach, and a bookstore.
Blake also supervised the construction of the West Angeles Cathedral on Crenshaw Boulevard in South L.A. In addition, he’s the presiding bishop of the 6 million member Church of God in Christ, a Memphis-based Pentecostal denomination.
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For a one-year term, Blake will join 24 other religious and nonprofit leaders to advise President Barack Obama’s faith-based initiatives. President George W. Bush established the office to lower the legal and institutional barriers that prevented government and faith-based groups from working as partners. Through the office, the Obama administration plans to emphasize neighborhood and religious leaders’ advancement of federal anti-poverty efforts.
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