“I send twenty-five cents for The Way,” Agnes Floyd of Michigan wrote to editors A.J. Tomlinson and M.S. Lemons in September 1905. Her letter continued, “It is a very good paper. I like to read such papers and then give them to others, praying that they may be led into the Way of life in the Savior.”
Not until near the end of the fourth General Assembly, on Saturday, January 9, 1909, did the Church of God create the office of general overseer.
“Georgia has a great treat coming!” proclaimed the Georgia Reporter in 1947. By that summer camp meeting was already an established tradition in the Church of God–so much so that the churches in Georgia had just purchased property to build a camp ground near Atlanta.
When the sixth General Assembly met in Cleveland, Tennessee, January 3-8, 1911, the Church of God had grown to fifty-eight churches, 107 ministers, and 1,855 members. Despite this growth, General Overseer A.J. Tomlinson expressed disappointment.
“We can’t begin to describe the great revival that is sweeping the town and country here. Can only say it is wonderful. Crowds are coming from far and near, and the large tent is filled to overflowing and altar so crowed with seekers we can hardly find room to work.” —-Ella Clyde Cotton
“I thank God for letting me live to see the latter rain,” wrote T. L. McLain in the inaugural issue of the Church of God Evangel in March 1910. McLain was referring to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which he had received a few months earlier in what historian Charles W. Conn called “the great revival.”
