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The Church of God of Prophecy traces its
founding back to the New Testament when Jesus "calleth unto him whom he
would: and they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they should be with
him, and that he might send them forth to preach" (Mark 3:13, 14). The
modern history of the church is closely intertwined with many of the major
religious movements that have swept across America and the world. The church has
a rich heritage rooted in the Protestant Reformation, including the efforts of
Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and others. More particularly, it is a legacy of what
is called the "radical reformation." Radical reform groups, such as
Anabaptists, Mennonites, Baptists, and Quakers, contended that the major
reformers had fallen short of a complete restoration of God's Church. The
radical reformers, therefore, sought to fully restore the church on deep
spiritual experiences, personal piety, and strict moral discipline.
When groups of radical reformers immigrated to America in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, their ideas found fertile soil and flourished in the
colonies. In America, and elsewhere, they emphasized experiential salvation,
God's love, and practical holiness. Love and holiness were, to them, the
hallmarks of the true church, in contrast to the complicated and formal
creedalism prevalent in their day. Great revivals, some marked by Pentecostal
manifestations, occurred among the radical reform groups, especially the
Baptists and the followers of George Whitefield and John Wesley. Following in
this tradition, the forefathers of the Church of God of Prophecy viewed their
work as both a continuation and restoration of the Apostolic Church.
In August, 1886, Richard Spurling (1810-1891), an ordained Baptist minister, and
his youngest son, R. G. Spurling, reacted against the prevailing creedalism
among many Baptists of the day. The "Landmark Movement" had permeated
Baptist congregations in the southern United States with an exclusivistic view
of the church, which the Spurlings rejected. Consequently, Richard Spurling and
seven other individuals came out of the Holly Springs and Pleasant Hill
Missionary Baptist Churches in Monroe County, Tennessee and Cherokee County,
North Carolina, and organized what they believed to be a true restoration of the
Apostolic Church. They called it "Christian Union" and constituted it
upon principles remarkably comparable to the sixteenth-century Anabaptists. The
group agreed to free themselves "from all (man) made creeds and traditions,
to take the New Testament, or law of Christ" as their "only rule of
faith and practice, giving each other equal rights and privileges to read and
interpret for yourselves as your conscience may dictate," and to "sit
together as the Church of God to transact business." In September of that
same year, Spurling ordained his son, R. G., to be the pastor with the consent
of the congregation. In 1891 the elder Spurling died, leaving the younger alone
to carry on his father's vision for the Christian Union.
Richard Green Spurling (1857-1935) succeeded in establishing at least two more
Christian Union congregations, even though the initial congregation at Barney
Creek in Monroe County ceased to function. Some of the charter members from the
original congregation helped to form the two succeeding congregations, and thus,
the original organization was perpetuated.
In 1895, people in portions of western North Carolina and South Carolina,
northern Georgia, and southeastern Tennessee were agitated by the radical wing
of the Holiness movement. Benjamin Harding Irwin had come south from the midwest
and greatly affected the region with his "fire-baptized" message.
Spurling's congregations were swept into this movement, thus moving away from
the general characteristics of Baptists to the tenets of the Holiness movement.
R. G. Spurling himself accepted holiness, but endeavored to modify the
fanaticism that tended to characterize Irwin's movement. Those who experienced
"fire-baptisms" were often difficult to manage, and thus, Spurling
struggled to maintain control of his followers. In the summer of 1896, in
Cherokee County, North Carolina, about twelve miles from Spurling's
congregations in Monroe and Polk Counties in Tennessee, an Irwin-influenced
revival broke out. During these meetings, held in Shearer Schoolhouse, some
one-hundred-thirty people were baptized with the Holy Ghost and spoke in unknown
tongues. The principal leaders of this revival were William Martin (a
Methodist), Joseph M. Tipton, Milton McNabb, and Billy Hamby (all Baptists).
Each of these men was acquainted with Spurling and had been influenced by him.
W. F. Bryant, a Baptist lay preacher, was drawn into the Holiness movement
during this revival in Cherokee County. Eventually he became the leader of the
group in the area of Camp Creek, North Carolina. Great persecution followed
Bryant's group in the succeeding years. The Baptist churches in the area
disfellowshipped all those "harboring the modern theory of
sanctification," maintaining it to be "a dangerous heresy."
Persecution, violent at times, continued, with the opponents of holiness taking
special advantage of Bryant's loosely-formed fellowship. Oppression from the
outside, coupled with an internal lack of order and discipline, nearly
devastated Bryant's group. By 1902, the little band had dwindled to no more than
20 people.
Indeed, had it not been for the wise counsel and influence of R. G. Spurling,
Bryant and his company of believers may have vanished from history. But on May
15, 1902 Spurling persuaded Bryant to organize in order for the work to survive.
Consequently, the Holiness Church at Camp Creek was born. Spurling was selected
by the congregation as pastor and Bryant was ordained as a deacon. In this
manner, Spurling's vision for the restoration of God's Church was perpetuated.
The following year, a dynamic and cheerful new leader was attracted to the
Holiness Church at Camp Creek. His name was A. J. Tomlinson. Tomlinson
(1865-1943), a Quaker, had experienced salvation and holiness in his personal
life and had come to the Appalachian mountains in 1899 as a missionary under the
auspices of the American Bible and Tract Societies. Tomlinson befriended
Spurling, Bryant, and the Holiness Church at Camp Creek. Elder Spurling greatly
impressed Tomlinson as he explained to him his vision of the church. On June 13,
1903, after a period of agonizing travail and a personal revelation from God,
Tomlinson united with the group. Spurling administered to him a covenant and
extended the "right hand of fellowship," which Tomlinson accepted with
the understanding that this was the Church of God of the Bible. This event was
held sacred by Tomlinson for the rest of his life. After years of religious
wandering, he had finally found his niche in which to work for God.
Tomlinson's leadership potential was readily recognized by Spurling and the
others, and he was immediately selected as pastor of the Camp Creek
congregation. The former Quaker was now driven by a sense of mission as never
before. Under his dynamic leadership, the church rapidly organized several
congregations in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia, and grew in the next
twenty years to a membership of more than twenty thousand, concentrated mainly
in the American South. By 1906, a need was felt to hold an annual assembly to
promote closer union and fellowship among the churches. The first such meeting
was held January 26 and 27 in the home of J. C. Murphy in Cherokee County, North
Carolina. It was during a subsequent Assembly in 1907 that the name Church of
God was officially adopted. In the Assembly of 1909, A. J. Tomlinson was
selected to serve as the General Overseer of all the Church of God, a position
he continued to fill until his death.
A. J. Tomlinson, like many in the Camp Creek congregation, leaned toward
Pentecostalism even before the turn of the twentieth century. However, it was
only after the outpouring of the Holy Ghost at Charles F. Parham's Bethel Bible
School in Topeka, Kansas in 1901, and the great interracial revival at Azusa
Street in Los Angeles, California led by W. J. Seymour, which began in 1906,
that the Church of God fully embraced the Pentecostal movement. On January 12,
1908, G. B. Cashwell, the "apostle of Pentecost in the South," who had
been at Azusa Street, preached a sermon in the local church in Cleveland,
Tennessee, at the invitation of A. J. Tomlinson. Following Cashwell's sermon,
Tomlinson fell to the floor and received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. He
professed to having spoken in at least ten different languages, while in the
ecstasy, and envisioned a world-wide harvest for the church through missionary
outreach. Since that time the church has remained in the classical Pentecostal
tradition.
The phenomenal early growth of the church was disrupted in 1923 when it divided
over several issues that had been fermenting for some years. These issues ranged
from financial matters to the form of government the church should adopt to
serve its ever-growing constituency. Following the division, both factions grew
and continued to build God's kingdom, but the anguish of the awful schism has
remained heavy on both groups. In recent years, unofficial consideration has
been given to ways in which spiritual reconciliation may eventually be achieved.
In January 1995, a two-day series of meetings was held between leaders of the
two groups in order to seek forgiveness for past hurts and to find
reconciliation as Christian brethren.
The group led by A. J. Tomlinson after the disruption of 1923 was by far the
smaller of the two groups, but under his untiring leadership it gradually gained
new strength. During the 1930s the church experienced a tremendous period of
revival and its growth was considerable. Mission outreach flourished as the
church's ministry began to spread to other countries.
A.J. Tomlinson passed away in 1943, leaving a huge void in the Church’s
leadership. During the presbytery meeting following Tomlinson’s death, after
much discussion and prayer, a message in tongues and interpretation was given
which said, “Bring forth the younger son.” The younger son was Milton (M.A.)
Tomlinson, who was about to turn 37 years old. He was pastoring in Kentucky at
the time he was selected to serve as General Overseer. At the subsequent General
Assembly in 1944 this selection was overwhelmingly approved. M.A. Tomlinson
sought to perpetuate and fulfill his father’s vision for almost forty-seven
years.
The vision of an “All Nations Church” reaching around the world and including members of every race and language was the driving force for a continued mission effort. This resulted in the expansion of the Church of God of Prophecy from 20 countries into over 90 countries under M.A. Tomlinson’s leadership. During that same period the number of local churches grew from just under 1,400 to over 5,500. His commitment to work under the guidelines of the General Assembly and his ability to recognize and appoint gifted leaders of all races were hallmarks of his ministry. The quality of members in the Church, from all nations and races, is to this day reflected in the operation of the General Assembly and the leadership on the general level.
Before going into the pastoral ministry, Tomlinson was a printer by trade and had a love for the publishing ministry. Under his leadership new publishing operations (White Wing Publishing Houses) were built in the U.S. and several other countries. New publications and Christian education materials were developed with a focus on the Full Gospel message. The ministry of the White Wing Christian Bookstores is also an outgrowth of this publishing ministry. Tomlinson oversaw the building of a 10,000-seat tabernacle for the then annual assemblies, a new headquarters building and a recording studio for the radio, television and music ministries. The office complex is the current location of World Headquarters, the White Wing Publishing House, and home to the Voice of Salvation radio and TV ministries (begun in 1955), which reach around the world in several languages.
During Tomlinson’s administration, the Church saw the expansion of the Homes for Children ministry (5 orphanages outside the U.S.) and the Bible Training Institute’s ministry of 64 short-term schools) into many locations around the world. The Youth Camp and Retreat Ministries expanded both nationally and internationally, and a fully accredited college offering both Associates and Bachelors degrees was developed. Another notable achievement was the Ministerial Aid Department which assisted retired ministers and their widows, along with then active ministers in planning for their retirement. The development of Fields of the Wood, a Biblical theme park to mark the beginnings of the Church in North Carolina, was another ongoing project begun in the 1940s.
In 1990, at the age of 84 years, M.A.
Tomlinson announced his retirement due to physical limitations (he passed away
in 1995), placing him among the longest serving Pentecostal leaders of the 20th
century. For only the second time in the Church's history, the presbytery met to
select a new leader. On May 2, 1990, the presbytery named Billy D. Murray, Sr.
to serve as interim General Overseer until the following General Assembly. In
August of that year Murray's selection was marvelously accepted by the General
Assembly in proper order. Since his selection, Murray labored tirelessly to
focus the church on a world full of lost people. These efforts are most clearly
seen in his urgent call in 1994 for the church to embrace “Turning to the
Harvest” as its passion, resulting in “Vibrant Local Churches”. He also
has endeavored to re-conceptualize some historical misunderstandings (held by
some) about the church and its mission. In the face of much difficulty, and with
great courage, Murray emphasized the proper theological relationship between
Christ and the church. From the moment he took office, he maintained that
“Christ is the message; the church is the messenger.” In the 10 years of his
administration (1990-2000) the church expanded from 90 plus nations to 120.
Membership grew from 262,000 to over 546,000. He retired from the office of
General Overseer effective August 1, 2000, and was succeeded by Fred S. Fisher,
Sr. who was selected by the International Presbytery and overwhelmingly approved
by the 91st General Assembly, July 12, 2000
The final chapters of the church's history remain to be written. It is our
fervent desire to fulfill our God-ordained role in taking the gospel message of
Jesus Christ to a lost world and to be an agent of reconciliation through which
our heavenly Father will one day answer the prayer of Jesus that we may all be
made one in Him.