Harvard Foundation honors minister for his work with African orphans

Bishop Charles E. Blake, minister of the 20,000-member West Angeles Church of God In Christ in Los Angeles, was awarded the Harvard Foundation Humanitarian Medal on Feb. 27. The ceremony took place before a crowd of students, faculty, and members of the greater Cambridge community at Harvard’s Memorial Church. The event, sponsored by the Harvard Foundation, the Memorial Church, and the Harvard Divinity School honored Blake’s work with Save Africa’s Children, an international church-based effort to build and sustain orphanages for millions of Africa’s AIDS-orphaned children and hospices for children with HIV/AIDS. During his Harvard visit, Blake met with Harvard Divinity School Dean William A. Graham, Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, Harvey Cox, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Divinity, Ben Wikler ’03, founder of the Harvard AIDS Coalition, and Robert Franklin, visiting professor of African American Religious Studies.