Bishop Eddie Long Scandal Is It Time To Replace The Title Of "Bishop"
There was once a time when the title of Bishop was very respected and reverenced but today this same title has come to represent some of the most corrupt men the church has ever seen.
Online, October 22, 2010 (Newswire.com) - There was once a time when the title of Bishop was very respected and reverenced but today this same title has come to represent some of the most corrupt men the church has ever seen. The Preacher Bureau of Investigations located at (www.PimpPreacher.com) says the level of church corruption that exist today has not been witnessed since the time of Martin Luther The Reformer. And yes it's true that not all Bishops are corrupt, but is that acknowledgment the equivalent of having a few good Pimps?
Since 1994 there has been an increase in Preachers referring to themselves as Bishop which has caused the Preacher Bureau of Investigations to take a closer look at this issue and how easy it has become to get the title of Bishop. Here's what they found.
The Bishop Morton Bishop Factory
The Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship under the leadership of Bishop Paul Morton is perhaps the one single entity that is most responsible for the increase in the total number of preachers calling themselves Bishop in the African American Church. Sure the Catholic Church has a history of bestowing the title on experienced priests, and so does many other denominations, but the Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship was a carbon copy of COGIC (Church of God in Christ) which also explains the rapid increase. Bishop Mason, the founder of COGIC was instrumental in the expansion of the term within the African American Church, but no one could match the pace at which Bishop Morton was cranking out Bishops.
Prior to Hurricane Katrina the Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship held its annual conference in New Orleans La, and every year there was an enormous increase in the amount of preachers elevated to the level of Bishop.
It is believed that in Bishop Morton's quest to expand his movement it also increased the need to have Full Gospel Bishops planted in different areas of the United States and internationally. Due to the rapid expansion of the Full Gospel Fellowship in the 1990's the term Bishop became the symbol of their hierarchy. Almost overnight guys went from being called Reverend Something to Bishop Something. It's almost as if the titles of Elder, Minister, Reverend, and Pastor had lost its punch, only to be replaced with this new symbol of spiritual dominance - BISHOP.
Even Bishop Eddie Long made a visit to the Bishop Morton Bishop Factory and came away with a brand new title of Bishop which even included that New Bishop Smell, no pun intended. But as the media continues to feast on scandal after scandal involving preachers with the title of Bishop, is it now time to raise the standards required for this position or abolish the title altogether?
A spokes person for the Preacher Bureau of Investigations says it time to return to a period when being referred to as Rev. was truly a title of respect and endearment.
"The term Bishop use to mean something, but now anybody can be a Bishop due to all of the different denominations that are popping up every year. It's not as much the title that makes you a Bishop. What makes you a Bishop is the level of spiritual maturity and decrement that allows you to serve as an example, which happens to be the most important quality. Whenever I hear the term Bishop I now record the date because it seems that within 3 years that person will be involved in some sort of scandal."
As the Catholic Church deals with its own scandals involving Bishops and Pedophile Priests, it's any wonder that a man of God would even want to be affiliated with such a tarnished group. If Bishop Mason were alive today he would be outraged at the quality of men that are parading around as Bishops, especially since he worked so hard to maintain the integrity of the title within his own alliance.
When it comes to the term Bishop there has to be some form of accountability or church leadership will continue to suffer from negative perception says the Preacher Bureau of Investigations. In elevating newly recruited preachers to the level of Bishop without due merit, Bishop Morton many have inadvertently transferred the same spirit that is plaguing the Catholic Church to the African American Church.
If you would like to read more articles related to the church community then please visit www.PimpPreacher.com
