FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 2, 2010

CONTACT: Elizabeth Ray or Mary Beth Hutchins at 703-683-5004

National organization for marriage Honors COGIC Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr and Mother Willie Mae Rivers

"I am here to present an award, but the honor is really ours to acknowledge the historic contributions of COGIC, and the black Church in protecting marriage," said Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of NOM

WASHINGTON, DC -- Tuesday Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr. and senior women's leader Mother Willie Mae Rivers of the Church of God in Christ accepted the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) 2010 Marriage Protector Award.

Bishop Blake is the worldwide leader of the Church Of God In Christ (COGIC), and Mother Rivers is the senior women's leader. COGIC is one of the largest African-American denominations in the United States, and has a worldwide membership of 5 million people in 60 countries.

The award was given to acknowledge "the steadfast witness of the Church of God in Christ in defending marriage as the union of husband and wife.”

NOM Chairman Maggie Gallagher presented the award at the 60th Annual Womens International Convention/Crusade of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) at the Los Angeles Convention Center. “We are blessed by your courage, your clarity, and your conviction,” Gallagher conveyed to COGIC.

"I am here to present an award, but the honor is really ours--to acknowledge with gratitude the contributions of COGIC in standing for the truth that to make a marriage you need a husband and wife. At a time when so many powerful voices argue that this idea is rooted only in hatred and bigotry, we are blessed by your witness to the truth, which is really God's truth, about marriage," Maggie Gallagher told the assembled 20,000 African-American women and COGIC bishops, and other church leaders.

To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President, or Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the Board, of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray, eray@crcpublicrelations.com, (x130) or Mary Beth Hutchins, mhutchins@crcpublicrelations.com, (x105) at 703-683-5004.

###