Bishop Loran Mann recalled as great presence, visionary

Bishop Loran Mann, a velvet-voiced minister and founder of Pittsburgh’s Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ, is being remembered by city leaders as a monumental figure in the region’s landscape.

Mann died Sunday at the age of 74, the Pentecostal Temple Church announced Sunday.

“He had a gregarious nature and always an uplifting spirit,” Tim Stevens, chairman of the Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP), said. “He was one of those people that when they walked into a room, everyone took notice. He had a great smile and presence. I had hoped that my friend would have been with us for many years to come to enjoy his leadership and spirit.”

CommUnity. Please pray for the family of Bishop Loran Mann. A great man was called home. Rest With God Bishop Mann. We truly love ❤️ you. Peace. pic.twitter.com/x3cSmyax1P

— Ed Gainey (@gainey_ed) May 2, 2021

Mann, a Westinghouse High School graduate and longtime Fox Chapel resident, attended the University of Pittsburgh and holds honorary doctorates from three institutions, including Waynesburg University of Pennsylvania.

He spent 21 years as a news reporter for WPXI, but his true passion was the church.

“Loran was a pioneer in journalism, not only in Pittsburgh’s Black community but also the community at-large; and not only in Pittsburgh but nationally. In fact, he was one of the first Black journalists in radio and television in Pittsburgh and because of his outstanding work in the church as a pastor and as a bishop, he was very well known throughout the country and the world,” Dee Thompson, a founding member of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation and a colleague of Mann’s at WPXI, said in a statement.

The federation’s president, Brian Cook, said Mann’s death is a loss for both the church and media communities.

“He was a trusted newsperson and will be missed for his pioneering inspiration and his dedication to community coverage,” Cook said.

After being called to preach while still in high school, Mann spent more than four decades shaping local ministry.

It was 1969 when Mann founded the Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ along East Liberty Boulevard. Its fledgling membership of 19 people grew over the years to include hundreds. In 1991, Pentecostal Temple dedicated a new $1.2 million sanctuary.

Pittsburgh Councilman Ricky Burgess counted Mann as a mentor, supporter and a friend.

Burgess, who represents neighborhoods that include Homewood, Larimer, North Point Breeze and Friendship, said his longtime friend was talented in ways that people never knew.

“He could sing, teach and preach,” Burgess said. “Something that not many people knew was that he was a great impressionist. He was an overall extreme talent.”

Burgess, the pastor of the Nazarene Baptist Church, grew up with Mann’s extended family and enjoyed a near 50-year friendship with the bishop.

“The housing in Larimer was accomplished in part because of his vision of what he wanted for the community,” Burgess said. “We lost a great religious leader but his vision lives on in his church and in the community.”

In 1992, Mann guided Pentecostal Temple into acquiring New Kensington-based WGBN-AM 1150, the first station in the Pittsburgh market to offer 24/7 Gospel music and programming.

Mann’s radio programs, “Daily Bread” and “Sunday With Christ,” are lauded as some of the most popular in the region.

Stevens said Mann allowed his airwaves to graciously host the B-PEP Community Moments radio show and called it a service to the region.

“Loran and I go back decades to when he was a reporter at Channel 11,” Stevens said. “He was very positive and was truly one of my favorite ministers.”

Through the years, Mann became active in the global ministry of the Memphis-based Church of God in Christ, the nation’s largest Pentecostal denomination of more than 6 million members.

In April 2000, Mann was appointed Commissioner of Television for the denomination and was a member of the executive committee of the general assembly, the legislative branch of the church. In 2005, Mann was appointed by then-Gov. Ed Rendell as a member of the state Public Television Network.

In 2011, Mann was named during the 104th International Holy Convocation of the Church of God in Christ as Bishop of Vermont.

Mann served as chairman of Jubilee Broadcasting Corp., which operates Radio Station KSTL- Radio 690 in St. Louis.

In March 2021, Mann was among 30 candidates vetted and among 11 later appointed to the prestigious national board for the Church of God in Christ.

Presiding Bishop J. Drew Sheard posted to Facebook on Sunday: “To know (Mann) was to love him. His presence will be surely missed by all.”

Just last summer, Mann served as the keynote speaker at an anti-racism rally at O’Hara Community Park, near his home in Fox Chapel.

He urged the crowd of 500 people to recognize and seize the opportunity for change following the death of George Floyd.

“White, black, rich, poor, good-looking and ugly,” he told the crowd, laughing. “This is a human situation. Search within yourself. And if you are not where you ought to be, you can commit to change.”

Episcopal Bishop Dorsey McConnell, who worked with Mann to bring racial justice and reconciliation to people of southwestern Pennsylvania, said Mann’s passing is a great loss to the whole church.

“He was a lion of the Gospel — outspoken and loving in his proclamation of Jesus Christ, always full of grace and good humor,” McConnell said. “He was a pastor’s pastor and his leadership was felt across all lines of race and denomination.

“I treasured our friendship and I grieve his loss.”

Mann and his wife Barbara are the parents of Tiana, a Washington, D.C., attorney, and Loran II, a minister and musician.