caption predecessor children birth_place type term birth_date spouse article_title name church occupation
bishop blake in 2008 gilbert e. patterson 3 , with 8 grandchildren little rock , arkansas , u.s. bishop 2007-present 5 august 1940 mae lawrence blake , charles e. blake
 bishop charles e. blake , sr. . pentecostal presiding clergyman , bible scholar , theologian , television personality bishop , church of god in christ ,
charles e. blake

for the arkansas politician similarly named , see `` charles j. blake '' .
charles edward blake , sr. -lrb- born august 5 , 1940 in little rock , arkansas -rrb- is the presiding bishop of the church of god in christ , inc. , a 6 million-member pentecostal-holiness denomination .
on march 21 , 2007 , he became the presiding bishop of the church of god in christ , inc. , as a result of presiding bishop gilbert e. patterson 's death .
in a november 2007 special election , he was elected to complete the unexpired term of his predecessor as presiding bishop .
in november 2008 , bishop blake was re-elected to serve a four-year term as presiding bishop .
in november 2012 bishop blake was re-elected again to serve a four-year term as the presiding bishop blake is the fifth presiding bishop -lrb- and seventh leader -rrb- of the historically african-american denomination .
from 1985 until 2009 , he was the jurisdictional prelate of the first ecclesiastical jurisdiction of southern california , overseeing more than 250 churches that compose the jurisdiction .
he was succeeded by bishop joe l. ealy .
