About Our Presiding Prelate 

Othal Hawthorne Lakey, the 44th Bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church is a native of Shreveport, La. At eight years of age he migrated with his family to Los Angeles, Ca. where he was reared. He is a product of the public schools of Los Angeles.
  
Prior to elevation to the Episcopal Office of his denomination, Lakey served extensive pastorates in Pasco, Wa., Portland, Or., Shreveport, La., and Dallas, Tx. In 1974, he was elected Editor of The Christian Index, the official publication of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. He held this position until elected bishop in 1982.
  
Othal H. Lakey is a graduate of Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wa. with a B.A. degree in history and a minor in philosophy. He holds a Master of Divinity Degree from the Theological School of Drew University, a Master of Sacred Theology Degree from the Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, and a Doctor of Laws and Letters from the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, Ga. Lane College, Jackson Tennessee and Texas College, Tyler, Texas, honors cause.
  
From 1968 to 1970, he taught religion at Texas College, Tyler, Tx. He is the author of The Rise of “Colored” Methodism: A Study of the Background and Beginnings of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (1970); The History of the C.M.E. Church (1985); The History of the C.M.E. Church, Revised (1995) Co-author of, God in My Mama’s House ~ A Study of the Women’s Movement in the C.M.E. Church (1994); and The History of the C.M.E. Church (Revised), 1996. His most recent publication is, “Mama, will I Have to Shine Shoes the Rest of My Life: A Few Sermons Out of the Black Experience (1996). He has also contributed numerous articles to books and periodicals.
  
Bishop Lakey is a recognized scholar on African-American religious history and is considered the authority on the history of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. He is the official historian of the C.M.E. Church, is Chair of the C.M.E. Church Commission on History and Archives, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at Paine College, member of the Board of Trustees of the I.T.C. He has served as a member of the world Methodist Historical Society, the North American Section of the American Religious Townhall, Inc. He is listed in The Encyclopedia of African–American Religions.
  
Presently, Bishop Lakey is the Presiding Bishop of the Sixth Episcopal District (the State of Georgia) of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Chair of the C.M.E. Department of Christian Education and Chair of the Committee on the Compilation of the Book of Discipline 2006.
  
He is married to Dr. Elfreda Almond Lakey and they are the parents of two adult sons, James Othal and Bryan Ashley, two adult daughters, Rachel and Millicent; and the grandparents of seventeen year old Keisha, thirteen year old Bryan II and nine year old Jaide. They reside at the Episcopal Residence in Decatur, Georgia.