Vol. 1 No. 1Editor: Blessings & Beyond Creations

The Official Newsletter of theJudiciary Board

Church of God in Christ

MEET THE CHIEFCHIEF JUSTICE THOMAS JACKSON, JR.The Judiciary Board, established by the General Assembly in 1991 under Article VIII of the Constitution of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., serves as the Supreme Court of our Church. There are several entities within our Church that serve an adjudicatory function: the Judiciary Committee of the Board of Bishops, the Judicial Committee of the Council of Pastors and Elders, the Dispute Resolution Forum of the Women’s Department, and the Judicial Council of the General Assembly. Each of these judicial bodies mediates or adjudicates disputes.

If an aggrieved litigant is dissatisfied with the decision rendered by one of these entities, pursuant to the guidelines of our Constitution, that party has the right to appeal to the Judiciary Board. Additionally, constitutional questions or requests for opinions may arise from the following: General Assembly, General Board, Board of Bishops, General Council of Pastors and Elders, Women’s Department, or an individual with proper standing in the matter being advanced.

The Judiciary Board is comprised of nine justices, and is presided over by the Chief Justice who is elected from and by the other justices. Chief Justice Thomas Jackson, Jr. serves as the Chief Justice of the Judiciary Board. Chief Justice Jackson has served on the judiciary board for 11 years, following his election in 2004. He was elected to the office of Chief Justice by his peers in 2009. By way of background, the Chief was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and attended the University of Chicago, DePaul University and Roosevelt University. He majored in Business Management, Personnel Administration and Sociology. He is a lifelong, third generation member of the Church of God in Christ, Inc. He and his wife, Marilyn, of fifty-eight years have four children. He has been in ministry for over 59 years and pastoring for over 50 years. Before entering full-time ministry, he worked as an Account Executive at Commonwealth Edison, an Illinois Utility Company, and retired after 37 years of service. To better know our Chief, his accomplishments and his convictions, let’s hear from him.

Meet the Chief

Chief Jackson Interview

The Docket

Church News fromAround the World

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P2

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In This Issue

See Chief Interview P2

The Judiciary Board is pleased to announce

The establishment of theJudiciary Board

Scholarship FundLaw Students and

Paralegal Students are invited to apply

Please contact the Secretary of the Board, Bishop E.

Charles Connor atsecretary.judiciary@gmail.com

for additional information and application materials.

Q: Chief Justice Jackson, you are the Pastor of the New Original Church of God In Christ and a member of the First Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of Illinois, is that correct?A: Yes. I’ve been a member of First Jurisdiction since its inception in 1955.

Q: Chief, aside from serving as a Pastor for more than half a century, what offices have you held on the jurisdictional level?A: I was the President of the Jurisdiction’s Music Department; an Ordination Board Member; a Pastors and Elders Council Member; the Dean of the Jurisdictional Executive Leadership Institute; and the Chairman of the Investigating Committee of the Jurisdictional Assembly. Presently I am an Administrative Assistant, the Vice Chair of the Jurisdictional Assembly and a District Superintendent.

Q: What offices have you held in the National Church?A: I have held numerous offices. I served as the National Chairman of the Election Board; the Vice Chairman of the General Assembly; an Executive Committee Member of the General Assembly; Third Vice Chairman of the General Council of Pastors and Elders; a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 2003; and I was a member of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Constitutional Amendments. I presently serve as the Chief Justice of the National Judiciary Board.

Q: Chief, it’s obvious that you are very active within the Church of God in Christ, but share with us some of your activities in the community.A: Well, I currently serve as the president of the South Shore Ministerial Association (an ecumenical ministerial association for pastors and community leaders). Also, I am the president and founder of the Ministerial Advisory Council (MAC).

Q: Are there any other community activities in which you are or have been involved?A: Yes. Previously, I served as the secretary of the Concerned Clergy of Chicago, and as a board member of the South Shore Cultural Center Advisory Board. Also I was a member of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Blue Ribbon Committee on School Reform in Chicago and Chairman of the Fourth District Police Advisory Committee for 17 years. I’ve also been an active member of the South East Kiwanis Club, North Avalon Community Association, Avalon Park Local School Council, and the Citizens-Schools Committee. Also, I have served as an Advisor with Junior Achievement and Youth Motivation Volunteer Corps of the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry. Both of which have programs operating within the Chicago Public Schools. In addition, I organized a coed Rite of Passage Program for Chicago Vocational High School.

Q: Tell me about the “Taste of South Shore.”A: I organized and produced the “Taste of South Shore.” It is a community festival which brings together thousands of people of all ethnicities, ages, and religions in a picnic atmosphere (with dancers, bands, awards, etc.) in an effort to unite the Chicago communities. The theme of the event is “I am because we are”. It’s loosely based on the concept of “Taste of Chicago.”

Q: What kind of recognition have you received for your work in the community?A: I have received numerous commendations for my community activism, but I’m most honored by the fact that in October of 1999, a portion of 78th Street was named in my honor. It is now known as“Rev. Thomas Jackson, Jr. Street.” Also on that day, Mayor Richard M. Daley, the mayor of Chicago at the time, proclaimed that day - “Rev. Thomas Jackson, Jr. Day.”

Q: What is Urban Communiversity?A: In the year 2005, New Original Ministries, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization that I founded, purchased Faulkner School, a private school serving preschool through eighth grade. The school has now been reorganized as an Urban Communiversity Center, a community center which offers advanced technological training programs.

Q: I understand that your ministry and activism are not limited to the U.S.A: That’s true. I was the guest speaker of Rev. Kobus Wiehman of Breckenridge, South Africa where I spent two weeks investigating economic and educational initiatives. In 1999, I visited South Korea as the guest of the South Korean government, to seek ways to establish better relations between Korean entrepreneurs in America, and the black community.

Q: Is it true that you are a published author?A: Yes. I have had two books published. “Visions for Change” is an afro centric rite of passage program guide for youth and “Church Of God In Christ” which is a leadership guidebook for Ministers.

Q: Chief, is there anything else you’d like to share with the readers before we conclude this interview?A: Yes, there is one thing. The New Original Church of God In Christ is known by our motto: “I AM BECAUSE WE ARE”. This is a concept which places the highest values on sharing and generosity, but emphasizes the need for working together for the common good. It also realizes that all life is interrelated and whatever affects one person, affects everyone else indirectly...a person is a person only through other human beings. Also, we strongly believe that the church and community prosper when they are blessed with Spirit filled leaders.

Interviewer: Thank You, Chief Justice Jackson.Chief Justice Jackson: Thank you.

The Judiciary Board began the 2014 term with the installation of a new Justice, Judge Casandra Lewis. Justice Lewis is a native of Chicago, Illinois. She serves there as a Circuit Court Judge in and for the County of Cook. Justice Lewis brings to the Court a wealth of knowledge and expertise which she gleaned from her experience on the bench and as a member of the bar. She is a welcome addition to this court.

The Docket

Judiciary Boardterm in review:

The National Judiciary Board Year in ReviewJustice Bishop E. Charles Connor, Secretary

Justice Lewis, center, and Chief Justice, right, Justice Floyd Perry, far right, Justice and Mrs. Connor, left, at Justice Lewis' Inaugural Gala.

1) Case No. JH1220-13 a. Petitioner: Elder James W. Hunt, Chairman of the General Assembly; b. Question: Whether the November 11, 2013 election was valid/legal; c. Ruling (unanimous): Despite some irregularities, the election was legal.

The following cases were decided by theNational Judiciary Board during the 2014 term:

2) Case No. GC-2014 a. Petitioner: Elder Ronald E. Stidham;b. Question: Whether a sitting justice originally elected from the Pastors and Elders Council, but subsequently consecrated to the office of Bishop could continue to serve in a seat designated for a member of the Pastors and Elders Council;c. Ruling (unanimous): A Justice elected from the Pastors and Elders Council who is later consecrated to the office of Bishop may not continue to serve in a seat designated for a member of the Pastors and Elders Council. Accordingly, Justice Joseph Clemmons is ineligible to continue to serve as a member of the Judiciary Board in a seat designated for a member of the Pastors and Elders Council as he is no longer a member of the Council. The Court acknowledges that former members in like circumstances have served on the Judiciary Board, however, those members never faced a constitutional challenge.

3) Case No. (Special Order) – SP2014-1a. Petitioner: The Court issued this order Sua Sponte (on its own motion) in response to Certain Actions taken by the Chairman of the General Assembly that directly and profoundly affected the Court;b. Question: Whether the General Assembly Chairman is empowered to unilaterally amend or nullify the Orders, Rulings or Decisions of the Judiciary Board;c. Ruling (unanimous): The Constitution of the Church of God in Christ, Inc. does not authorize the Chairman of the General Assembly to modify, amend or nullify the Orders, Rulings or Decisions of the Judiciary Board. Furthermore, any attempt on his part to do so is null and void and of no effect.

4) Case No. BOB07-2014a. Petitioner: Bishop Paul L. Fortsonb. Question: Whether the Chairman of the General Assembly has the authority to hold a new election to fill a vacancy occasioned by the nullification of the election of an ineligible candidate to the Judiciary Board in light of the ruling of the Judiciary Board which resulted in the filling of said vacancy. c. Ruling (majority): The Chairman of the General Assembly is not authorized to hold an election to fill a vacancy that has already been filled as a result of a previous ruling of the Judiciary Board.

5) Case No. GC-2014-1a. Petitioner: Assistant General Secretary Talbot Swanb. Questions:

i. Whether the Chairman of the General Assembly is in violation of the Constitution for refusing to hold an election for the following offices of the General Assembly: Parliamentarian, Chaplain, and Sergeant-at-Arms;

ii. Whether the Chairman of the General Assembly is required to hold an election at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the General Assembly to fill a vacancy that occurs on the Judiciary Board while the General Assembly

is recessed;iii. Whether the Chairman of the General Assembly has the authority to require a house to provide more than one

name per vacancy to fill vacancies on the Judiciary Board. c. Rulings (unanimous):

i. The Constitution of our Church is clear and unequivocal regarding the selection process for the offices of Parliamentarian, Chaplain and Sergeant at Arms. It explicitly provides that “[T]he General Assembly shall elect by majority vote of the members present and voting…Parliamentarian…Chaplain…Sergeant at Arms;" ii. There is no language that mandates that the Chairman of the General Assembly hold an election within a specified time frame following the occurrence of a vacancy. Therefore, a delay in holding such an election could not be considered a violation of the Constitution; iii. There is no language that authorizes any house to submit one name per vacancy. Therefore, a denial of such a submission could not be considered a violation of the Constitution. Other cases were referred to the Court, however, those matters were either remanded to their houses of origin for further proceedings or dismissed summarily on procedural grounds (e.g. lack of standing, untimeliness of appeal.)

Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, a Sudanese woman, was tried and convicted of apostasy for failing to renounce her Christian faith. Ibrahim’s case first came to the attention of authorities when members of her father’s family complained that she was born a Muslim but married a Christian man. Ibrahim married in a formal ceremony in 2011 and has an 18 month old son, Martin. Sudan’s penal code criminalizes the conversion of Muslims to other religions. This “crime” is punishable by death. Muslim women in Sudan are further prohibited from marrying non-Muslims, although Muslim men are permitting to marry outside their faith.

Initially, Ibrahim was charged with adultery for having “illegitimate sex” with her Christian husband, but remained free pending trial. She was later charged with apostasy and jailed after she declared in court that Christianity was the only religion she knew. Her 18 month old son was with her in jail as Sudanese law prohibited the child from being in the sole custody of his Christian father. Following a trial, a Sudanese Court sentenced Ibrahim, pregnant at the time, to death by hanging. The court in Khartoum ruled that Ibrahim must give birth and nurse her baby before being executed for apostasy. However, before her execution, the court ordered that she receive 100 lashes for adultery immediately after having her baby. Ibrahim gave birth to her second child while shackled in prison chains. It is unclear as to whether she received the 100 lashes.

Ibrahim could have avoided the sentence of death simply by renouncing her faith, but she refused. “We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam,” Judge Abbas Khalifa told Ibrahim. “I sentence you to be hanged to death.” “I was never a Muslim,” she answered. “I was raised a Christian from the start.”

Family members also claimed that her birth name was “Afdal” and that she changed it to Meriam. Ibrahim refused to answer the judge when he referred to her as “Afdal” during a court hearing. The document produced by relatives to indicate she was given a Muslim name at birth was a fake, according to a spokesman for Ibrahim.The Court of Cessation (the Supreme Court) in Khartoum vacated the death sentence after defense lawyers presented their case on appeal, and that court ordered her release. The day following her release, Ibrahim and her family were detained at the airport as they attempted to leave the country. She was charged with “forging” travel documents. However, two days later, those charges were dropped and the family was permitted to leave Sudan. They have since arrived safely in the U.S.

From Around the World

Woman Faces Death Sentence for Refusing to Renounce Christianity

Church News

Pope Francis meets Meriam Ibrahim, from Sudan, with her daughter Maya in her arms, in his Santa Marta residence, at the Vatican on July 24

Meriam Ibrahim, left, and her husband, Daniel Wani, of Sudan, are greeted by family and friends shortly after arriving in Manchester, New Hampshire, Thursday, July 31, 2014

Meriam Ibrahim (left), with her daughter Maya leaving Rome's Fiumicino Airport for Philadelphia. All photos courtesy of Associated Press.

NEWS