A.J. Tomlinson Family not long before their move to
North Carolina in 1899. From left: Homer, Ambrose,
Halcy, Mary Jane, Iris. (Wade H. Phillips Collection)
A TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER
“I was ordained a minister of the gospel of the Holiness Church at Camp Creek, N.C.”
— A.J. Tomlinson
June 13, 1903
June 13, 1903
The Holiness Church at Camp Creek saw little progress in the months following its establishment in May 1902. The congregation continued to experience opposition from its neighbors. There was one interested friend and observer, however. Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson (1865–1943) resided about fourteen miles east in the hamlet of Culberson, North Carolina. He had become friends with Will Bryant, R.G. Spurling, and the Holiness Church, and he cast his lot with the congregation on June 13, 1903.
One of the great stories of the biblical record is that of Abraham—a man who left his home, journeyed to a new land, and fathered a great nation. Hebrews 11:10 records that Abraham “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” A.J. Tomlinson lived his early life searching for God’s church. Believing he had found the true church in Camp Creek, he exhausted his remaining years endeavoring to build God’s church. His leadership transformed the Church of God from a mountain congregation to a global ministry.
One of the great stories of the biblical record is that of Abraham—a man who left his home, journeyed to a new land, and fathered a great nation. Hebrews 11:10 records that Abraham “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” A.J. Tomlinson lived his early life searching for God’s church. Believing he had found the true church in Camp Creek, he exhausted his remaining years endeavoring to build God’s church. His leadership transformed the Church of God from a mountain congregation to a global ministry.
Missionary From Indiana
A.J. Tomlinson was born into a nominal Quaker family near the central Indiana community of Westfield. According to family tradition, he was anemic at birth but full of energy throughout his life. An excellent student, he concentrated on athletics and drama in high school. As a young adult, he became consumed with politics, including running for a local office on the People’s Party ticket, often referred to as the Populist Party. Then, on April 24, 1889, he married Mary Jane Taylor, and they had four children: Halcy, Homer, Iris, and Milton.
Tomlinson’s grandparents, Robert and Lydia Tomlinson, were devout Quakers. They denounced war and capital punishment
and were staunch abolitionists. They also were publicly known as “operators” on the Underground Railroad—a network of people and places assisting escaped slaves make their way to freedom
in Canada. Lydia so opposed slavery that she refused to purchase products produced by slave labor.
Tomlinson’s parents, Milton and Delilah, were estranged from the Society of Friends due in part to their marriage in a courthouse rather than a Quaker meetinghouse. Along with farming, they were entrepreneurs well-known for enterprises
such as building roads for highways and railroads.
Despite growing up in a nominally religious family, A.J. later recalled central moments in his spiritual journey. At the age of twelve, he heard his name called three times—not his birth name but rather the nickname given by his family. Then, at seventeen, his spiritual nature was stirred during a local revival. His friends pleaded with him to be saved, but he refused to yield.
As a twenty-four-year-old groom, fear from a nearby lightning strike provoked Tomlinson to reconsider his relationship
with God, so he began reading the Bible and praying. Soon converted, he burned his playing cards and became involved in
Sunday school work at the nearby Chester Preparative Meeting of the Society of Friends, which was evangelical and what
biographer R.G. Robins described as “the epicenter of Quaker holiness in America.” The absence of a preacher during a
scheduled revival created an opportunity for lay preaching, and this became a pattern throughout Tomlinson’s life. When a need presented itself, he responded wholeheartedly and energetically. About 1892, Tomlinson experienced a dramatic sanctification, which he described as “the last great conflict.”
A.J. Tomlinson was born into a nominal Quaker family near the central Indiana community of Westfield. According to family tradition, he was anemic at birth but full of energy throughout his life. An excellent student, he concentrated on athletics and drama in high school. As a young adult, he became consumed with politics, including running for a local office on the People’s Party ticket, often referred to as the Populist Party. Then, on April 24, 1889, he married Mary Jane Taylor, and they had four children: Halcy, Homer, Iris, and Milton.
Tomlinson’s grandparents, Robert and Lydia Tomlinson, were devout Quakers. They denounced war and capital punishment
and were staunch abolitionists. They also were publicly known as “operators” on the Underground Railroad—a network of people and places assisting escaped slaves make their way to freedom
in Canada. Lydia so opposed slavery that she refused to purchase products produced by slave labor.
Tomlinson’s parents, Milton and Delilah, were estranged from the Society of Friends due in part to their marriage in a courthouse rather than a Quaker meetinghouse. Along with farming, they were entrepreneurs well-known for enterprises
such as building roads for highways and railroads.
Despite growing up in a nominally religious family, A.J. later recalled central moments in his spiritual journey. At the age of twelve, he heard his name called three times—not his birth name but rather the nickname given by his family. Then, at seventeen, his spiritual nature was stirred during a local revival. His friends pleaded with him to be saved, but he refused to yield.
As a twenty-four-year-old groom, fear from a nearby lightning strike provoked Tomlinson to reconsider his relationship
with God, so he began reading the Bible and praying. Soon converted, he burned his playing cards and became involved in
Sunday school work at the nearby Chester Preparative Meeting of the Society of Friends, which was evangelical and what
biographer R.G. Robins described as “the epicenter of Quaker holiness in America.” The absence of a preacher during a
scheduled revival created an opportunity for lay preaching, and this became a pattern throughout Tomlinson’s life. When a need presented itself, he responded wholeheartedly and energetically. About 1892, Tomlinson experienced a dramatic sanctification, which he described as “the last great conflict.”
Tomlinson with family and friends at Culberson ca. 1900. Mary Jane and A.J. Tomlinson seated center; Miles Dickson Kilpatrick (“Uncle Dick”) seated in buggy; J.B. Mitchell standing right. (Wade H. Phillips Collection)
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Ministry in North Carolina
Tomlinson soon became acquainted with J.B. Mitchell—a convert of Charles Finney. Finney was a leading evangelist of America’s Second Great Awakening and had founded Oberlin College in Ohio. Oberlin was one of the early colleges to allow women to sit in the same classroom as men, and its ideas concerning sanctification, missions, and distribution of clothing and Bibles to the poor greatly influenced Mitchell, who influenced Tomlinson. Ever the entrepreneur, in 1894, Tomlinson and Mitchell formed the Book and Tract Company as a means of funding ministry, including travel to the mountains of southern Appalachia. Tomlinson was already sensing a spiritual awareness that God was calling him to lead others in ministry. After several trips south, his interest in evangelism and ministry to the poor brought him to Culberson, North Carolina, a small village near Murphy and just north of the Georgia state line. He wrote in his diary on May 8, 1899, “We are waiting here in Ohio for God to give us the money to go to the mission fields in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.” He and his family arrived in Culberson on October 16, 1899. |
Tomlinson’s ministry at Culberson ca. 1901. A.J. Tomlinson (with beard) is standing left of Mary Jane Tomlinson on back row. |
Tomlinson published Samson’s Foxes in 1901 and 1902 to promote the Culberson ministry. Some contents led to hostilities among his neighbors.
Tomlinson patterned his Culberson ministry after other Quaker home mission ministries to the southern poor. He developed a Sunday school, an industrial school for children, an orphanage, and a clothing distribution center. First renting a house for the ministry, he later purchased a two-acre lot that he deeded to “God Almighty and A.J. Tomlinson, steward or agent.” At least through 1908, Tomlinson occasionally sent “Missionary Evangelism” letters to supporters around the country soliciting aid for the Culberson ministry.
In those letters, he identified himself as a missionary to the impoverished and unreached in east Tennessee, north Georgia, and western North Carolina.
As a means of promoting the work in Culberson, Tomlinson published a monthly paper called Samson’s Foxes. It featured articles and news from the Holiness and Divine Healing Movements and appealed for help for the mountain poor. Tomlinson believed that just as Samson’s foxes had burned the fields of the Philistines, the ministry of converted children would burn sin out of the mountains. Later in 1904, Tomlinson and his friend M.S. Lemons began publishing The Way with the motto, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
With few resources and outside support, Tomlinson’s ministry in Culberson teetered on the verge of financial failure. Many days began wondering from where the day’s food for the children would come. Also challenging, the ministry soon experienced local opposition. Viewed as a Yankee outsider, Tomlinson’s stern sanctification message and printed characterization of the “poor ignorant whites” generated hostilities from neighbors. Ridiculed, threatened, and even challenged to a duel with pistols, he heard
the Holy Spirit whisper “depart,” and he left for six weeks to allow tempers to cool.
Having already explored numerous denominations and movements, while away from Culberson, Tomlinson revisited Frank W. Sandford’s “Shiloh” near Durham, Maine. According to Cecil M. Robeck, Sandford (1862–1948) was an “author, publisher, pastor, evangelist, Bible school founder and utopian visionary who played a pivotal role in the training of many Holiness people who would later become Pentecostal....” Sandford edited a periodical called Tongues of Fire and preached that signs and wonders would separate those belonging to Christ from those belonging to Anti-Christ. He called for the restoration of apostolic life and power and emphasized missions, faith, and divine healing.
Tomlinson previously had attended Sandford’s Holy Ghost and Us Bible School in 1897 and had been baptized in the Androscoggin River. Water baptism demonstrated a radical break from his Quaker roots. During this second visit, Sandford himself baptized Tomlinson as entry into the “Church of the Living God,” established “for the Evangelization of the World, Gathering of Israel, and the New Order of Things at the Close of the Gentile Nation.”
Returning to Culberson, Tomlinson steadily distanced himself from Sandford, whose theology became more and more radical. Clearly Sandford’s church was not truly God’s church. Yet, Sandford’s message of living in the last days and the necessity of uncovering God’s church before the soon return of Jesus Christ were indelibly integrated into Tomlinson’s theology.
In those letters, he identified himself as a missionary to the impoverished and unreached in east Tennessee, north Georgia, and western North Carolina.
As a means of promoting the work in Culberson, Tomlinson published a monthly paper called Samson’s Foxes. It featured articles and news from the Holiness and Divine Healing Movements and appealed for help for the mountain poor. Tomlinson believed that just as Samson’s foxes had burned the fields of the Philistines, the ministry of converted children would burn sin out of the mountains. Later in 1904, Tomlinson and his friend M.S. Lemons began publishing The Way with the motto, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
With few resources and outside support, Tomlinson’s ministry in Culberson teetered on the verge of financial failure. Many days began wondering from where the day’s food for the children would come. Also challenging, the ministry soon experienced local opposition. Viewed as a Yankee outsider, Tomlinson’s stern sanctification message and printed characterization of the “poor ignorant whites” generated hostilities from neighbors. Ridiculed, threatened, and even challenged to a duel with pistols, he heard
the Holy Spirit whisper “depart,” and he left for six weeks to allow tempers to cool.
Having already explored numerous denominations and movements, while away from Culberson, Tomlinson revisited Frank W. Sandford’s “Shiloh” near Durham, Maine. According to Cecil M. Robeck, Sandford (1862–1948) was an “author, publisher, pastor, evangelist, Bible school founder and utopian visionary who played a pivotal role in the training of many Holiness people who would later become Pentecostal....” Sandford edited a periodical called Tongues of Fire and preached that signs and wonders would separate those belonging to Christ from those belonging to Anti-Christ. He called for the restoration of apostolic life and power and emphasized missions, faith, and divine healing.
Tomlinson previously had attended Sandford’s Holy Ghost and Us Bible School in 1897 and had been baptized in the Androscoggin River. Water baptism demonstrated a radical break from his Quaker roots. During this second visit, Sandford himself baptized Tomlinson as entry into the “Church of the Living God,” established “for the Evangelization of the World, Gathering of Israel, and the New Order of Things at the Close of the Gentile Nation.”
Returning to Culberson, Tomlinson steadily distanced himself from Sandford, whose theology became more and more radical. Clearly Sandford’s church was not truly God’s church. Yet, Sandford’s message of living in the last days and the necessity of uncovering God’s church before the soon return of Jesus Christ were indelibly integrated into Tomlinson’s theology.
The Holiness Church
On one of his trips through the North Carolina mountains, Tomlinson’s ministry and spiritual journey led him to Camp Creek. Tomlinson had stopped his wagon at Shoal Creek to allow his horses a refreshing drink. Noticing two boys nearby, the Bible colporteur sold each of them a five-cent New Testament. As Homer Tomlinson recounted the story, one of those boys, Luther Bryant, invited Tomlison to his home. “Ye ort to meet my pa. He’s pow’ful religious.” That day Tomlinson encountered Will Bryant and began a relationship with the Holiness band that would change his life.
Tomlinson observed the Holiness flock for several years. He later wrote in Answering the Call of God, “I had already searched and investigated many movements until my faith in them had completely exhausted. I seemed to be like a ship at sea with no rudder by which it should be controlled.” With the imperfections of human organizations, he had yet to discover a church that measured up to his ideal. Cautious of church government, he wrote to Bryant warning about the dangers of organization, but Bryant heeded the advice of R.G. Spurling rather than that of Tomlinson.
Following the organization of the Holiness Church on May 15, 1902, Tomlinson often visited the congregation. Fellowship, Bible study, and deepening relationships altered his understanding toward Spurling’s belief that the church must be local and visible. After prayer on the morning of Saturday, June 13, 1903, Tomlinson covenanted with the Holiness Church believing it was the “Church of God of the Bible.” He later recalled that prior to joining, he declared, “If you take the whole Bible rightly divided, that makes it the Church of God.” With their confirmation, he united with the Holiness Church, and they immediately ordained him as their pastor.
We should note here that Tomlinson later asserted that the Church of God had been covered over until his June 13, 1903,
revelation. Yet, his “Brief History” recorded in The Last Great Conflict, connected the Church of God back to the founding of the Christian Union on August 19, 1886. Because of Tomlinson’s later claim that the Church of God was revealed on June 13, 1903, some of his ecclesiastical descendants celebrate June 13, 1903, as the beginning of the Church of God this side of the Dark Ages.
On one of his trips through the North Carolina mountains, Tomlinson’s ministry and spiritual journey led him to Camp Creek. Tomlinson had stopped his wagon at Shoal Creek to allow his horses a refreshing drink. Noticing two boys nearby, the Bible colporteur sold each of them a five-cent New Testament. As Homer Tomlinson recounted the story, one of those boys, Luther Bryant, invited Tomlison to his home. “Ye ort to meet my pa. He’s pow’ful religious.” That day Tomlinson encountered Will Bryant and began a relationship with the Holiness band that would change his life.
Tomlinson observed the Holiness flock for several years. He later wrote in Answering the Call of God, “I had already searched and investigated many movements until my faith in them had completely exhausted. I seemed to be like a ship at sea with no rudder by which it should be controlled.” With the imperfections of human organizations, he had yet to discover a church that measured up to his ideal. Cautious of church government, he wrote to Bryant warning about the dangers of organization, but Bryant heeded the advice of R.G. Spurling rather than that of Tomlinson.
Following the organization of the Holiness Church on May 15, 1902, Tomlinson often visited the congregation. Fellowship, Bible study, and deepening relationships altered his understanding toward Spurling’s belief that the church must be local and visible. After prayer on the morning of Saturday, June 13, 1903, Tomlinson covenanted with the Holiness Church believing it was the “Church of God of the Bible.” He later recalled that prior to joining, he declared, “If you take the whole Bible rightly divided, that makes it the Church of God.” With their confirmation, he united with the Holiness Church, and they immediately ordained him as their pastor.
We should note here that Tomlinson later asserted that the Church of God had been covered over until his June 13, 1903,
revelation. Yet, his “Brief History” recorded in The Last Great Conflict, connected the Church of God back to the founding of the Christian Union on August 19, 1886. Because of Tomlinson’s later claim that the Church of God was revealed on June 13, 1903, some of his ecclesiastical descendants celebrate June 13, 1903, as the beginning of the Church of God this side of the Dark Ages.
Tomlinson working at his home in Cleveland, Tennessee. The desk was moved outside for the photograph.
Cleveland, Tennessee
Tomlinson’s ministry in Culberson continued to struggle as he increasingly ministered beyond the mountains. In December 1904, the Tomlinson family relocated from Culberson to Cleveland, Tennessee. In a previous visit to the small town of about 4,500 people, he had purchased a house on Gaut Street. He was able to afford the house in part because tales that it was haunted had dissuaded other buyers.
Why Cleveland, Tennessee? The growing valley town sixty miles west of Culberson was attractive to a minister with a vision to expand God’s church. Improvements in Cleveland included waterworks, electricity, a volunteer fire department, and a telephone system. Good schools were particularly essential for a growing family, and Cleveland was building a public school system to replace its one-room schoolhouses.
One very valuable resource was the Southern Railway Company that connected Cleveland to cities such as Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. Like an airport today, a train station provided possibilities of quick and inexpensive travel. The alternatives
were walking, horseback, or horse and buggy. There were few roads and only the privileged could afford automobiles. The same railroad that made the growth of business and industry possible also cultivated a vision of world evangelism.
Perhaps the opportunity that most influenced Tomlinson’s relocation to Cleveland was the surrounding fertile field for ministry. In December 1903, he accepted pastorates of nearby Tennessee congregations in Luskville and Union Grove. Drygo was added to his responsibilities by the end of 1904. These had been Fire-Baptized churches prior to the fall of Irwin. Still serving at Camp Creek, Tomlinson was pastor of a circuit of congregations.
Tomlinson’s journal reveals that by December 21 he was making use of his home office in Cleveland. In addition to serving as a base for pastoral and evangelistic ministry, his office provided space for his prolific correspondence and publication of The Way. It was a significant step forward for what was to become a worldwide movement based in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Tomlinson’s ministry in Culberson continued to struggle as he increasingly ministered beyond the mountains. In December 1904, the Tomlinson family relocated from Culberson to Cleveland, Tennessee. In a previous visit to the small town of about 4,500 people, he had purchased a house on Gaut Street. He was able to afford the house in part because tales that it was haunted had dissuaded other buyers.
Why Cleveland, Tennessee? The growing valley town sixty miles west of Culberson was attractive to a minister with a vision to expand God’s church. Improvements in Cleveland included waterworks, electricity, a volunteer fire department, and a telephone system. Good schools were particularly essential for a growing family, and Cleveland was building a public school system to replace its one-room schoolhouses.
One very valuable resource was the Southern Railway Company that connected Cleveland to cities such as Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. Like an airport today, a train station provided possibilities of quick and inexpensive travel. The alternatives
were walking, horseback, or horse and buggy. There were few roads and only the privileged could afford automobiles. The same railroad that made the growth of business and industry possible also cultivated a vision of world evangelism.
Perhaps the opportunity that most influenced Tomlinson’s relocation to Cleveland was the surrounding fertile field for ministry. In December 1903, he accepted pastorates of nearby Tennessee congregations in Luskville and Union Grove. Drygo was added to his responsibilities by the end of 1904. These had been Fire-Baptized churches prior to the fall of Irwin. Still serving at Camp Creek, Tomlinson was pastor of a circuit of congregations.
Tomlinson’s journal reveals that by December 21 he was making use of his home office in Cleveland. In addition to serving as a base for pastoral and evangelistic ministry, his office provided space for his prolific correspondence and publication of The Way. It was a significant step forward for what was to become a worldwide movement based in Cleveland, Tennessee.
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Cleveland and the Railroad
Regarding the significance of the railroad, on June 30, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln said, “To take and hold the railroad at or east of Cleveland, Tennessee, I think is as fully as important as the taking and holding of Richmond.” Why was the railroad near Cleveland of such importance? Copper was mined in Ducktown and Copper Hill, brought to Cleveland by ox wagon, and smelted to provide ammunition for the Confederacy. |
Need for an Assembly
As 1905 came to an end, Tomlinson was pastoring his circuit of congregations and endeavoring to establish a mission in Cleveland. A new congregation had been planted near Morganton, Georgia, which met in the home of the Jones family, and through R.G. Spurling there was continued fellowship with the Piney Grove and Paul’s Mountain Christian Unions. According to Tomlinson, the work of these churches had “so prospered that there began to be a demand for a general gathering together of members from all the churches to consider questions of importance and to search the Bible for additional light and knowledge.” He later remembered, “We were walking softly, carefully, and prayerfully before God, as we have been up to this very day, determined to track the Bible and not go beyond in any of our teachings and practices, and at the same time advance as light was given.” When examining the Scriptures, it seemed evident that Israel’s meetings in the wilderness and the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 were clear biblical examples justifying a meeting of the churches.
Twenty-one women and men gathered on Friday and Saturday, January 26 and 27, 1906. None of the congregations owned a church building, so they met in the home of J.C. and Melissa Shearer Murphy in Camp Creek. Without good roads or an automobile, the fifty miles from Cleveland was a two-day journey for Pastor Tomlinson.
Not surprisingly, the delegates selected Pastor A.J. Tomlinson to serve as moderator and clerk. After he called the delegates to order and conducted devotions, their first action was to adopt a motto: “We do not consider ourselves a legislative or executive body, but judicial only.” By this they meant that it was not the purpose of their Assembly to make God’s laws or to implement God’s laws; rather, God’s laws are revealed in the New Testament, interpreted by the Assembly, and implemented by local congregations. Delegates discussed various issues, came to a consensus, recommended their conclusions to the local churches, and agreed to meet again the next year.
When their business was completed, they employed the language of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:25 with an affirmation of spiritual discernment and unity. “It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and us, being assembled together with one accord, with the Spirit of Christ in the midst, and after much prayer, discussion, searching the Scriptures and counsel, to recommend these necessary things and that they be ratified and observed by all the local churches.”
The winter weather had been so cold that J.C. Murphy continually put logs in the fireplace to keep the delegates warm; and on Saturday evening, a fierce snowstorm rendered travel difficult. Delegates who remained for worship on Sunday heeded the Assembly and participated in the Lord’s Supper and washing of the saints’ feet. Pastor Tomlinson reflected in his journal, “The meeting on the whole was noticeable of the love to one another and the unity….”
Much as R.G. Spurling envisioned at the founding of the Christian Union, this first Assembly employed a process that raised questions, searched the Scriptures, and sought the will of God. It recognized the importance of respecting others’ voices, even when they differed, and expected that God would speak to the Assembly through those voices. Representatives of local congregations trusted that among Assembly delegates there would be discernment and wisdom, and all were accountable to one another. They viewed themselves as restoring New Testament Christianity rather than perpetuating a “man-made” denomination.
As 1905 came to an end, Tomlinson was pastoring his circuit of congregations and endeavoring to establish a mission in Cleveland. A new congregation had been planted near Morganton, Georgia, which met in the home of the Jones family, and through R.G. Spurling there was continued fellowship with the Piney Grove and Paul’s Mountain Christian Unions. According to Tomlinson, the work of these churches had “so prospered that there began to be a demand for a general gathering together of members from all the churches to consider questions of importance and to search the Bible for additional light and knowledge.” He later remembered, “We were walking softly, carefully, and prayerfully before God, as we have been up to this very day, determined to track the Bible and not go beyond in any of our teachings and practices, and at the same time advance as light was given.” When examining the Scriptures, it seemed evident that Israel’s meetings in the wilderness and the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 were clear biblical examples justifying a meeting of the churches.
Twenty-one women and men gathered on Friday and Saturday, January 26 and 27, 1906. None of the congregations owned a church building, so they met in the home of J.C. and Melissa Shearer Murphy in Camp Creek. Without good roads or an automobile, the fifty miles from Cleveland was a two-day journey for Pastor Tomlinson.
Not surprisingly, the delegates selected Pastor A.J. Tomlinson to serve as moderator and clerk. After he called the delegates to order and conducted devotions, their first action was to adopt a motto: “We do not consider ourselves a legislative or executive body, but judicial only.” By this they meant that it was not the purpose of their Assembly to make God’s laws or to implement God’s laws; rather, God’s laws are revealed in the New Testament, interpreted by the Assembly, and implemented by local congregations. Delegates discussed various issues, came to a consensus, recommended their conclusions to the local churches, and agreed to meet again the next year.
When their business was completed, they employed the language of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:25 with an affirmation of spiritual discernment and unity. “It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and us, being assembled together with one accord, with the Spirit of Christ in the midst, and after much prayer, discussion, searching the Scriptures and counsel, to recommend these necessary things and that they be ratified and observed by all the local churches.”
The winter weather had been so cold that J.C. Murphy continually put logs in the fireplace to keep the delegates warm; and on Saturday evening, a fierce snowstorm rendered travel difficult. Delegates who remained for worship on Sunday heeded the Assembly and participated in the Lord’s Supper and washing of the saints’ feet. Pastor Tomlinson reflected in his journal, “The meeting on the whole was noticeable of the love to one another and the unity….”
Much as R.G. Spurling envisioned at the founding of the Christian Union, this first Assembly employed a process that raised questions, searched the Scriptures, and sought the will of God. It recognized the importance of respecting others’ voices, even when they differed, and expected that God would speak to the Assembly through those voices. Representatives of local congregations trusted that among Assembly delegates there would be discernment and wisdom, and all were accountable to one another. They viewed themselves as restoring New Testament Christianity rather than perpetuating a “man-made” denomination.
FIRST ASSEMBLY RECOMMENDATIONS
W.F. Bryant and R.G. Spurling at the Camp Creek home of Melissa and J.C. Murphy, which was the site of our first General Assembly in 1906
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The first General Assembly made these recommendations to the local churches:
• Assembly is “judicial only” and churches are “executive.” • Assembly and churches should keep records. • Churches should practice the Lord’s Supper and footwashing one or more times per year. • Churches should hold weekly prayer meetings. • Delegates should press into every opportunity for evangelism. • Churches should oppose the use of tobacco, but deal tenderly with users. • Families should practice family worship. • Churches should establish Sunday schools. • Churches should issue letters of recommendation when appropriate. • Delegates should meet annually for an Assembly. |
A Church in Cleveland
Soon after his relocation to Cleveland in December 1904, Tomlinson had begun to work toward establishing a church in the growing city. Early efforts included a series of tent meetings, a mission in rented facilities, and worship in local homes. Then, on October 10, 1906, Tomlinson set in order the church that became known as North Cleveland Church of God. The congregation was able to build a meetinghouse the next summer, which they dedicated in September 1907. In many ways, the Cleveland congregation became a “mother church” as the local saints and expanding Church of God ministries shared strength, resources, and leadership.
Soon after his relocation to Cleveland in December 1904, Tomlinson had begun to work toward establishing a church in the growing city. Early efforts included a series of tent meetings, a mission in rented facilities, and worship in local homes. Then, on October 10, 1906, Tomlinson set in order the church that became known as North Cleveland Church of God. The congregation was able to build a meetinghouse the next summer, which they dedicated in September 1907. In many ways, the Cleveland congregation became a “mother church” as the local saints and expanding Church of God ministries shared strength, resources, and leadership.
Un Líder Transformacional
A.J. Tomlinson se unió a la Iglesia de la Santidad en Camp Creek el 13 de junio de 1903. Nació en una familia de granjeros cuáqueros de Indiana en 1865, y se convirtió tras caerle un rayo cerca. En 1894, fundó la compañía Book and Tract Company con J.B. Mitchel para proveer apoyo financiero al ministerio de los pobres de las montañas del oeste de Carolina del Norte.
Luego de haber sido trasladado a Culberson, Carolina del Norte, el ministerio de Tomlinson incluía una escuela para niños, una escuela dominical, distribución de ropa y un orfanato. El ministerio experimentó dificultades financieras, y su mensaje de santificación y el trato que daba a los pobres de las montañas generaron hostilidades por parte de la población local.
El viaje espiritual de Tomlinson lo llevó a la banda de santidad en Camp Creek, y se hizo buen amigo de Will Bryant. Después de orar el sábado 13 de junio de 1903, Tomlinson se unió a la Iglesia de Santidad con el entendimiento de que era la “Iglesia de Dios de la Biblia”.
En diciembre de 1904, Tomlinson se trasladó a Cleveland, Tennessee, donde había buenas escuelas para sus hijos, un ferrocarril para viajar más fácilmente e iglesias cercanas que lo invitaron a servir como su pastor. En 1906 moderó la primera Asamblea General y estableció lo que hoy es la Iglesia de Dios del Norte de Cleveland.
Luego de haber sido trasladado a Culberson, Carolina del Norte, el ministerio de Tomlinson incluía una escuela para niños, una escuela dominical, distribución de ropa y un orfanato. El ministerio experimentó dificultades financieras, y su mensaje de santificación y el trato que daba a los pobres de las montañas generaron hostilidades por parte de la población local.
El viaje espiritual de Tomlinson lo llevó a la banda de santidad en Camp Creek, y se hizo buen amigo de Will Bryant. Después de orar el sábado 13 de junio de 1903, Tomlinson se unió a la Iglesia de Santidad con el entendimiento de que era la “Iglesia de Dios de la Biblia”.
En diciembre de 1904, Tomlinson se trasladó a Cleveland, Tennessee, donde había buenas escuelas para sus hijos, un ferrocarril para viajar más fácilmente e iglesias cercanas que lo invitaron a servir como su pastor. En 1906 moderó la primera Asamblea General y estableció lo que hoy es la Iglesia de Dios del Norte de Cleveland.
Heritage Resources
- Duggar, Lillie. A.J. Tomlinson. Cleveland, TN.: White Wing Publishing House, 1964.
- Robins, R.G. A.J. Tomlinson: Plainfolk Modernist. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Tomlinson, A.J. Diary of A.J. Tomlinson, 1901–1924. Cleveland, TN.: White Wing Publishing House, 2012.
David G. Roebuck, Ph.D. is director at the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center, assistant professor of the history of Christianity at Lee University, and church historian for the Church of God (Cleveland, TN).