Jesse Delano Ellis, II, commonly known as J. Delano Ellis, (December 11, 1944 – September 19, 2020) was a

religious leader Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

in the United States and progenitor of unity among

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

Pentecostals with

Trinitarian The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Fa ...

and

nontrinitarian Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence ...

affinities. Establishing and initially leading the Joint College of Bishops as their

Metropolitan Archbishop Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

, Ellis also founded and served as presiding prelate for the United Pentecostal Churches of Christ (today the United Covenant Churches of Christ) and

Pentecostal Churches of Christ The Pentecostal Churches of Christ is a Protestant Christian denomination in the Oneness Pentecostal and Holiness-Pentecostal traditions. The Pentecostal Churches of Christ self-identify as " Anglican-Apostolic". The Pentecostal Churches of Chri ...

—a

Holiness-Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movementOneness/Apostolic Pentecostal denomination. He served as the senior pastor of the Pentecostal Church of Christ in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Ohio, a ministry to which he was called on May 14, 1989. From the inception of the Joint College of Bishops, Ellis, alongside the organization's co-founders—Wilbert Sterling McKinley, Roy Edward Brown, and

Paul S. Morton Paul Sylvester Morton (born July 30, 1950) is an American Baptist pastor. He is the senior pastor of Changing a Generation Full Gospel Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and co-pastor of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church in New Or ...

—have been labeled as "leaders in the shift" among African American Pentecostalism for introducing liturgical order and identity among Pentecostal or

Full Gospel The term Full Gospel or Fourfold Gospel is a theological doctrine used by some evangelical denominations that summarizes the Gospel in four aspects, namely salvation, sanctification, divine healing and second coming of Christ. Doctrine This term ...

churches and denominations. As a promoter of

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

, Ellis placed Pentecostalism as manifested among African Americans in conversation with the broader Christian community around the world. Through Ellis, many classical and Oneness Pentecostal denominations claim to derive "western and eastern streams of apostolic succession" as described in his book, ''The Bishopric – A Handbook on Creating Episcopacy in the African-American Pentecostal Church''. The Apostolic Pastoral Congress, a British organization, claims to derive a line of succession from Ellis through Archbishop Doye Agama.

Biography

J. Delano Ellis, II was the son of Lucy and Jesse Delano Ellis, Sr. At age 13 or 14, Lucy became pregnant with Ellis. His mother was a Christian and his father rejected Christianity for Moorish Science and then the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...

. During his childhood, his mother was placed in a mental health institution; he then lived with his grandmother and great aunt. During his teen years, Ellis attempted to establish a relationship with his father by attending a Nation of Islam mosque. His father told them Jesus was the "white man's god and Christianity was a trick designed to enslave black people." Ellis began attending the Christian Tabernacle

Church of God in Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly Bl ...

under the pastorate of Bishop R.T. Jones, Sr. One night at the church Ellis professed Christianity and claimed his father physically abused him for rejecting

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. In his early adulthood, Ellis joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and attended the

Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the 19th-century Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism. It is headquartered in Lenexa within Johnson County, Kansas. With its members co ...

. Due to

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

he joined the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and developed an appreciation of

high church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...

liturgy and

ecclesiology In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership. In its early history, one of the ...

. He soon returned to the Church of God in Christ. J. Delano Ellis, II was ordained by Bishop Ozro Thurston Jones, Sr. in 1963 within the Church of God in Christ and elevated to the episcopacy in 1970 by Bishop Brumfield Johnson of the United Holy Church of America. In the Church of God in Christ, Ellis organized the Adjutant's Corp. He served as the third Chief Adjutant of the National Adjutancy of the Church of God in Christ. In 1989, Ellis was asked to lead a

Oneness Pentecostal Oneness Pentecostalism (also known as Apostolic, Jesus' Name Pentecostalism, or the Jesus Only movement) is a nontrinitarian religious movement within the Protestant Christian family of churches known as Pentecostalism. It derives its distincti ...

congregation outside of the Church of God in Christ. He determined Oneness Pentecostalism and Trinitarianism weren't entirely different conceptions, yet rejected distinctions between the persons of the Trinity. He came to believe there was no scriptural support for the doctrine of Trinitarian Christianity. Ellis soon after founded the United Pentecostal Churches of Christ (now the United Covenant Churches of Christ). During his tenure as presiding prelate of the United Pentecostal Churches of Christ, he co-founded the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops. The Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops (JCAAPB), more commonly the Joint College of Bishops (JCOB), was an ecumenical

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

established by Ellis, Wilbert Sterling McKinley, Roy Edward Brown, and

in November 1993. The Joint College of Bishops originally functioned as a high church Pentecostal body, later expanding into other Protestant traditions through Doye Agama and the Apostolic Pastoral Congress. Membership of the Joint College of Bishops have been noted for reappropriating the scholarly history and meaning of vestments. Leaders within the Joint College of Bishops have also been noted for teaching five-fold ministry and the

ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...

. During theological disputes on

Christian universalism Christian universalism is a school of Christian theology focused around the doctrine of universal reconciliation – the view that all human beings will ultimately be saved and restored to a right relationship with God. "Christian universalism" ...

, Ellis and the Joint College of Bishops denounced

Carlton Pearson Carlton D'metrius Pearson (born March 19, 1953) is an American minister and gospel music artist. At one time, he was the pastor of the Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center Incorporated, later named the Higher Dimensions Family Church, which was ...

as a heretic for teaching Christian universalism. Under Ellis's administration, the Joint College of Bishops also admitted and certified gay bishop O.C. Allen of the Vision Church of Atlanta in 2012, spurring further controversy within African American Pentecostalism. In 1995, Ellis was fired after briefly serving as a city police chaplain for his comments toward

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

, stating Islam was "bloody and dangerous" at worst; in 2001, Ellis resigned from a local faith committee over

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

controversy. As late as the 21st century, Ellis also served as a member of Eureka Lodge No. 52 of the Prince Hall Freemasons. He was a

grand prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be low ...

and 33rd Degree mason. After 30 years of leadership at the Pentecostal Church of Christ in Cleveland, J. Delano Ellis, II abdicated his pastorate in 2019; his wife, Dr. Sabrina Ellis, was appointed the new senior pastor. Nearly a year later on September 19, 2020, Ellis was pronounced deceased in a public statement by his wife. His death almost immediately follows a street being named in his honor. The Potter's House Church founder Thomas Dexter Jakes preached at his funeral. Following his death, Bishop Woodson of the Pentecostal Churches of Christ's Mid-South Episcopal Diocese was elected as new presiding prelate. The majority of the executive and advisory boards of the Joint College of Bishops also resigned. After resignation, the remainder of the college of bishops temporarily became the J.D. Ellis Training Academy, before restoring the Joint College of Bishops.

Apostolic succession

In an appendix to his book ''The Bishopric – A Handbook on Creating Episcopacy in the African-American Pentecostal Church'', Ellis claimed both "western and eastern streams of

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...

" for himself and for the United Pentecostal Churches of Christ. He claimed "western streams of succession" via the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

, Thomas Coke,

Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life to ...

, the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

and the

. The claimed succession from the Methodist Episcopal Church is stated as being via three Church of God in Christ bishops (David Charles Williams, Carl Edward Williams and Reuben Timothy Jones), all of whom held " Holy Orders" from the Methodist Episcopal Church. In his book, he made no claim or comment at all as to whether the line of succession via Wesley, Coke, Asbury and the Methodist Episcopal Church carries unbroken apostolic succession as distinct from presbyteral succession only. He also didn't indicate that Williams, Williams and Jones possessed episcopal consecration from the Methodist Episcopal Church, nor does he cite any episcopal apostolic lineage for their status as bishops of the Church of God in Christ. The question as to whether there can be apostolic succession via Wesley is a moot point. Wesley was a Church of England clergyman but he was not a Church of England bishop. Some believe that Wesley was secretly consecrated bishop by Greek Orthodox bishop

Erasmus of Arcadia Erasmus of Arcadia (Greek: Έρασμος της Αρκαδίας), also known as Gerasimos Avlonites (Greek: Γεράσιμος Αυλωνίτης), was a Greek Orthodox bishop of the Diocese of Arcadia in Crete, operating under the Metropolit ...

in 1763. Others believe Wesley's stance that apostolic succession could be transmitted through presbyters, and that he was a scriptural ''episkopos''. Ellis also noted that in 1964 he had been ordained presbyter by Bishop Ozro Thurston Jones of the Church of God in Christ, and he notes his episcopal consecration in 1970 by Bishop Brumfield Johnson of the Mount Calvary Holy Church of America. His book cites no episcopal apostolic lineage for this 1970 consecration. "Eastern streams of succession" are traced from the Syro-Chaldean Church in the East, via Archbishop Bertram S. Schlossberg (Mar Uzziah), Archbishop-Metropolitan of the Syro-Chaldean Church of North America, now known as the Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America. In 1995, Ellis stated, the Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America entered into collegial fellowship with the United Pentecostal Churches of Christ. At a holy convocation of the United Pentecostal Churches of Christ, Bishop Robert Woodward Burgess, II (allegedly representing Archbishop Schlossberg, who was living in Jerusalem) had allegedly assisted at the consecration of a number of additional bishops. According to Ellis, Archbishop Schlossberg and Bishop Burgess claimed to possess lineages from bishops Prazsky (Slavonic Orthodox lineage) and Gaines (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

Ukrainian Orthodox The history of Christianity in Ukraine dates back to the earliest centuries of the history of Christianity, to the Apostolic Age, with mission trips along the Black Sea and a legend of Saint Andrew even ascending the hills of Kyiv. The first C ...

lineage). They also claimed this succession converges in Schlossberg and Burgess, as well as numerous lineages deriving via

Hugh George de Willmott Newman Hugh George de Willmott Newman (17 January 1905 – 28 February 1979) was an Independent Catholic or independent Old Catholic bishop. He was known religiously as Mar Georgius I and bore the titles, among others, of Patriarch of Glastonbury, ...

(Mar Georgius). In his book, Ellis mentions the Slavonic and Russian/Ukrainian lineages via Prazsky and Gaines, but the only one of Newman's many lineages that he cites is the Syro-Chaldean. Claiming both "western and eastern streams of apostolic succession" for himself and the United Pentecostal Churches of Christ, the validity of both have been debated on the pretense of Ellis being

. According to

Michael Ramsey Arthur Michael Ramsey, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury, (14 November 1904 – 23 April 1988) was an English Anglican bishop and life peer. He served as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. He was appointed on 31 May 1961 and held the office until 1 ...

, once the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

(1961–1974), the validity of someone's succession pertains to continuity of teaching, preaching, governing, ordination and grace.Ramsey, Arthur Michael. ''The Gospel and the Catholic Church'' (translated from the Spanish edition published in the Dominican Republic: 1964, pp.134ff) In

Catholic theology Catholic theology is the understanding of Catholic doctrine or teachings, and results from the studies of theologians. It is based on canonical scripture, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by the magisterium of the Catholic ...

, apostolic succession effects the power and authority to administer the sacraments except for baptism and matrimony; thus, apostolic succession is necessary for the valid celebration of the sacraments. Against the claims of Ellis and their college of bishops, Anglican and Catholic theologians historically nullify "western and eastern streams of apostolic succession" as his predecessors were Trinitarian, thereby disqualifying Delano's succession claims.

References

External links

Bishop J. Delano Ellis Celebrates 45 Years in Ministry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, J. Delano 1944 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American bishops 21st-century American bishops American Pentecostal pastors Church of God in Christ pastors Pentecostal writers African-American Christian clergy Religious leaders from Cleveland Writers from Cleveland Clergy from Philadelphia Writers from Philadelphia Oneness Pentecostals American Freemasons 21st-century African-American people