In 1940, overseer Cornelous Range and his wife missionary Range along with mother D. M. Matthews were the watchman of the Rhode Island and Providence Plantation. The Pioneer for the only church mission operating at that time was the Elder A. D. Johnson. In 1941 the late Senior COGIC Founder, Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, (better known as “Dad”), sent Elder B.M. Keith from New Jersey to Providence, Rhode Island to be the Overseer of the State. In the same year Mother Mabel Martin from New York was appointed the first Supervisor of the Women’s Department. With the help of the Lord, the jurisdiction began to grow. In 1943, Bishop Richardson from Connecticut was appointed the first Bishop of Rhode Island Jurisdiction (RIJ), and Mother Lila Little served as the second State Supervisor. Bishop Richardson was succeeded in 1949, by Bishop C.W. Franklyn and in 1950 by Bishop I. L. Jefferson. Some years later, Bishop Jefferson and Mother Little were united in marriage. Shortly after their holy matrimony, Mother Jefferson relinquished her position and in 1959, Mother Elizabeth Frances Graves was appointed State Mother. With the split of the national church, Bishop and Mother Graves moved on to the International church, therefore, Bishop John P. Graham was appointed the new Prelate in 1967. Bishop Graham asked Mother Graves to work with him and she agreed. As a result, she was reappointed as State Supervisor. In 1980, Bishop Le Roy Anderson, a general board member, was appointed interim Bishop; and served for approximately two to three years with several others serving in between during a reorganization. of the jurisdiction. In the spring of 1986, in Memphis Tennessee, Bishop Norman N. Quick was appointed Bishop of the Rhode Island Jurisdiction (RIJ). Years later, in 1994, Bishop Soi-Daniel Brown was appointed Bishop of RIJ by a unanimous vote. His appointment was ratified in the November meeting of the General Assembly. After our beloved mother Witcher, who was laboring as supervisor of the Women’s Department was called from labor, Bishop Soi-Daniel Brown appointed Mother Maria Seastrunk as the Supervisor of the Women’s Work. Bishop Brown was succeeded by Bishop Harvey L. Lewis, Sr. in March 1999, from Washington, DC, and still currently serves as the Prelate of our great Jurisdiction. With the home going of Mother Maria Seastrunk in 2014, and after seeking the Lord in prayer, Bishop Harvey L. Lewis, Sr., appointed Dr. Maritza Maria Knight, as the new Supervisor of RIJ Women’s Department in which Maritza Knight served until 2021. Bishop Harvey Lewis Sr. appointed Jacquelyn Linsey Wynn as Supervisor of the Rhode Island Jurisdiction in 2022.