"We love Israel. Now you say why do you love Israel? Why why why? Why do you love Israel? Okay, we can only say this. And this is a key point. That is a question that no one can truly answer correctly. If I asked you, why do you love your wife? promise you, whatever answer you give, she's not going to be totally satisfied with it."
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
These strong words of affection to the Jewish state were uttered by Dr. Glenn Plummer, the Church of God in Christ's (COGIC) first-ever bishop of Israel. He spoke with Israel Hayom in Jerusalem, passionately stressing the deep connection he and his wife Ruth, and their church, have toward Israel. What's more, he makes it abundantly clear that unlike in some congregations, this appointment does not clash in any theological way with the rights of the Jews to the Land of Israel – it reinforces them.
Born in 1955 in Brooklyn, he moved around the globe where his father – who was in the US military – was stationed: Germany, Libya, Mississippi, and Michigan.
"So in the 1960s, which was the height of the Civil Rights movement in America, I lived down south in Mississippi. It was segregated. And, so I even had that experience in my life, as well," he recalls.
He has been living in Detroit for the past 40 years, having built a family there and found his religious calling. He shared with Israel Hayom this spiritual path. "I wouldn't call myself a bad boy, but I started going on the wrong path. And, it was my experience with God that brought me. But remember, we moved and lived in different countries. And so if we, whatever country we were in, my parents would attend a Christian church. And we would just attend, my parents weren't extra-religious. But, you know, they were godly. My parents are still alive and married today. They have been married 69 years, and they're a wonderful couple, the most wonderful couple. And, so they raised me, fearing God, but I didn't really learn the Bible. So I didn't know the stories of the Bible. I didn't know the stories of the Jewish I knew nothing about the Jewish people. I knew nothing about the Bible. Until I was in my early 20s."
When he was 24, he had a mystical experience and felt drawn to religion. He would listen to Christian broadcasts on the radio and started reading the Bible. Then he took it up in college.
"This was the first time I've heard about Jesus' actions in Israel. I had heard, of course, I heard the name Jesus, but I really did not understand anything about him. And then he was explaining what happened to him, that he was this young Jew, in his early 30s. And so I was fascinated by the story. And, then I just had this very incredible experience with God. And I had a desire and a thirst to know Him, and to understand more. And that began my journey of reading the Bible."
The young Plummer also tried to fuse his newly found faith to his passion for media. While radio stations kept rebuffing his pitches, he struck gold on the small screen. He made his way from the bottom up and quickly rose the rungs, eventually becoming the chairman and CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters.
Today he and his wife Ruth, a very successful preacher in her own right, preside over many television stations that cater to religious audiences. Some 85% of US households can watch his content.
But his wealth and status had no impact on his religious passion, nor did they erode his warm personality. His love of the Jewish people despite not being Jewish is not all of what he offers. He is also a clear champion of the homeless and the poor, generously helping those who have been left behind in society.
Q: You spoke about your children and the successful family you have raised (one of his sons is a mega-producer in Hollywood – A.K.). Have your grandchildren felt discrimination because of the color of their skin?
"Of course. In all kinds of different ways. In their jobs. One of the big things in America recently is, the police will stop you because they see a black man and if he's looking at certain ways music is too loud maybe the police assume he's a troublemaker. And so they will stop him in a store, they are spoken to in a certain way that interprets being disrespected."
Plummer got the appointment to become COGIC Bishop of Israel in 2019, just before the coronavirus pandemic.
Q: Do you have to be black to be in the church?
"We would not like it to be. But we have a problem in the United States. And so our church was started in 1897 by a man who was like 30, he was about 33 years old at the time. So he was born a slave. He was born when slavery in America was the law of the land… you need to understand that when you're dealing with black America you're dealing with a group of people who are conservative in every social issue of the day. We are conservative. Politically conservative. Same-sex marriage, abortion, whatever. But almost nine out of 10 vote Democrat."
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is unique in American black history. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his last sermon at Mason Temple, the COGIC headquarters, on April 3, 1968, in Memphis.
In his famous sermon, he said: "Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
Just hours after he delivered that speech – in which he clearly put on display his clear affinity with the roots of Judaism and compared himself to Moses bidding farewell before his people crossed the Jordan River – King would no longer be alive, having been assassinated in a nearby motel. These were his final public statements.
Fifty-one years later, the same church, in the same exact hall, appointed Plummer as its first Bishop of Israel. He was appointed after many decades of Israel outreach among the community's members. He has visited Israel about 20 times, leading groups of tourists and pilgrims, he has repeatedly called on his broadcasts to support Israel and has created a pro-Israel lobbying group, and has collaborated with the largest pro-Israel lobby, the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
For Plummer, becoming the bishop of Israel is coming full circle to that moment in Memphis where King ended his metaphorical journey. "He came here [Israel] in 1959, he was 30 years old. He was a millennial, a young man. And he was leading the civil rights movement at that time in America. When he came here, he wanted our people to start coming here. In 1967, it was his plan to bring 6,000 black Americans on one tour. It was delayed because of the Six-Day War. And then he was assassinated five months later. So it was important to him that our people come to just see it, just come to visit and have the same experience he had. Some 50 years after he was assassinated, from the same city, in the same building where he gave his title speech, I was selected to be the bishop."
Plummer noted that no other church has a bishop in Israel, because of the politically sensitive situation of who controls Jerusalem.
"That's why it was such a big deal when President Trump decided to move the embassy to Jerusalem. It's a huge deal to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided, eternal capital of Israel. That statement has never been made by the Roman Catholic church or the Greek Orthodox Church. The main Bishop here is the Archbishop of Jerusalem. He's the Archbishop of Jerusalem, the Greek Orthodox, he's the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Not Israel. They won't touch that name.
"We want to stay out of politics. That's not a political statement. That's a biblical statement. You recognize Israel because of its biblical significance. It's not a political statement against the Palestinians. This is what I said. It's not a political statement against Muslims. It's just a fact. It's the truth."
Q: What do you plan to do here?
"We as a people do not want to change you as Jews. We don't want to make you Christian. We understand and respect the Israeli fear regarding Christians. This is one of the messages that we have for you. We're here because we recognize the biblical importance of Israel. Now, we can't separate the Bible. The secular Jew may want us to, but we can't. We don't know. We can't, we don't know how to do this. It's like trying to separate our skin color."
Q: Have you been accused of arriving here for proselytizing purposes?
"So when I first heard this, I laughed. I thought it was not only just silly, I thought it was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. I have many Jewish friends in the United States. I helped raise $6 million 20 million shekels with Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein so that Ethiopians could make aliyah. We went together to Ethiopia, we flew on the plane together with Ethiopians who made aliyah. I told you I became a minister. 40 years ago, I became a pastor 20 years ago, and I never had a conversation with a Jew about my faith, about Christianity. And the reason we don't do that is because Jews don't want to hear it. I lived in Detroit for 40 years. More Arab Muslims are in Detroit than any other city outside the Middle East in the world. I've never talked to a Muslim about converting. We don't do that. We respect you. and we expect you to respect us. Remember, respect is our biggest thing. But we would say to the Jewish community, to stay true to, to your path to stay true to who you are. If we could do anything for you. It is to encourage you, that you're on the right path. And to stay on despite what everybody else says, to stay on the path that you're on. The last thing we want you to do is not to be Jewish. We could not be Christian without Judaism. We don't need Judaism to be Christianity. You are the tree. You are the roots, we are just a branch off."
Q: But practically speaking, what are you going to do here?
"We don't have to be neighbors to be your friend. We want you to understand, we are really your friends. It's important for us to have a relationship. So for me, part of my job is to introduce us to Israelis, because they don't know the story. And it's important for me to introduce Israelis to black Americans because we don't know who you are today. Remember I told you that Israel is land, people, and government? And so what do we know about the government? Only what CNN says, only what the TV says? We don't know. It's important that we have a relationship with your people. So it's my job to do that. Now, how do I do that? First, we need to bring the people here. The people must come here. Just to see."
Q: People say that Israel lost black Democrats. Is that true?
"I say that, first of all, it's not true. totally untrue. And I'm going to explain to you why. And I say that you would be very smart to understand that a major voting bloc in the Democratic Party is black America and the black American church. So the black American church probably makes up 80% or more of black America. Black Americans number approximately 45 million. Of that 45 million, 80% are directly linked to the black church. Our church has six and a half million members. Louis Farrakhan has 20,000. Israel would be very smart to understand that you have a natural ally in the black church because we are the biggest voting bloc in the Democratic Party. The biggest concern that I have in black America is the Black Hebrew Israelites…It is estimated they have maybe a million million and a half. Now, to me, that's a significant number. It's a very disjointed group. There's no leader. There's no organization. It's just a philosophy. It is a split group, but they have been growing in number. And so they see the black church as an adversary. They say they are the Jews. So they say you're not even the Jews and they completely delegitimize you."
Q: What are your expectations from the Israeli government?
"My wife Ruth and I hope they would consider giving us diplomatic status. And we discussed that it's not setting a new precedent, that there are diplomatic relations with the Catholic Church with the Greek Orthodox patriarchs. Because we think that that would be a wonderful statement for Israel to make to black America, is that we want to have a real relationship with you. So wouldn't it make sense to make a formal relationship? Of course, this is our goal, a formal relationship with Israel. If you can have the Abraham accords if you can have a relationship formally. With the Roman Catholic Church, the people who had the Crusades, okay. You can certainly have a formal relationship with us."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
