Bishop Williams Roberts
William Roberts was born May 10, 1978 in Okolona, Mississippi. At the age of 23 he married 17 year old Mamie Hill. A year later, he moved to Memphis and opened a wholesale business. He was saved in 1904, and along with his wife became members of Elder Charles Harrison Mason’s Wellington Street church. “Brother Willie” as he was called, served first as a deacon, and later as Mason’s assistant pastor. In Dec 1933, Bishop Mason chose Bishop Williams Roberts as one of the five state overseers to be consecrated bishops in the Church of God in Christ. Bishop William Roberts served as Chairman of the General Assembly ,and was a mentor to many. He also served as Chairman of the Committee on Temperance and traveled to Washington, D.C to fight for Negro causes. It was during the state convocation of 1952 that Dr. Arenia C. Mallory and Elder Louis Henry Ford suggested changing the name of the 40th Street church to Roberts Temple. The name was officially adopted and dedicated during Papa Roberts’ lifetime in October 1953. Bishop Roberts passed away on his 78th birthday, May 10, 1954.