[1] The denomination traces its history to its founder Charles Price Jones, a minister who had embraced Holiness Methodist doctrine.
Charles Price Jones, a Missionary Baptist preacher in Alabama and later Mississippi, accepted the doctrines of Holiness Methodism around 1896.
Young accepted William Seymour's teaching concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit and returned with such doctrinal message with great enthusiasm.
After an extended discussion on the issue of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, at the 1907 convention, the assembly withdrew the right hand of fellowship from C. H. Mason, D. J.
The name Church of God in Christ was widely held by both groups until 1907, when Bishop C. H. Mason had the name COGIC, incorporated.
Water baptism of believers by immersion and the Lord's supper as a memorial are held to be ordinances of the church.
The church is episcopal in structure with a Senior Bishop as the highest official and spiritual leader.
In 2008 the Church of Christ (Holiness) had 15,000 members in 167 congregations in the United States, the Dominican Republic and Africa.