St. Paul Church of God in Christ was organized in 1897 by Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, the founder of the COGIC denomination. Since its construction here in 1906, St. Paul has served as the Mother Church for the COGIC. Saints Academy, formerly known as Saints Industrial and Literary School, began in the basement of the church in 1918. By 1954, it had grown into a junior college and established its own campus south of the church. The denomination has grown to include members in over seventy-one countries.