The Great Revival
“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
Services in the tent lasted from August 11 to October 14, 1908. Along with other ministers, Ella Clyde Cotton assisted Pastor Tomlinson with the revival.
Although countless revivals have shaped our heritage, few compare to the ten-week 1908 meeting in Cleveland, Tennessee. Pastor A.J. Tomlinson had sought the baptism in the Holy Spirit for several months and was gloriously filled that January. His experience transformed his life and the ministry of the local congregation. The pages of Tomlinson’s journal spill over with accounts of the dynamic work of the Holy Spirit.
When warm weather arrived in the spring of 1908, Tomlinson pressed his tent into active duty in Chattanooga. Following the establishment of the East Chattanooga Church of God, Tomlinson then pitched the tent in Cleveland. The revival began in the church on Wednesday, August 5, and moved to the tent on August 11. Most days included morning prayer meetings in the church or private homes with afternoon and evening services in the tent.
About 500 people attended the first night in the tent. When the noise and commotion of the revival disturbed several prominent citizens, the mayor demanded that services close at 10:00 each night. In spite of facing the threat of arrest, Pastor Tomlinson refused to end the meetings early, insisting he could not “leave seekers in the altar.”
After a month of crowded meetings under the tent, headlines in the local newspaper proclaimed, “Big Holiness Meetings. No Abatement in Interest, Enthusiasm or Attendance.” According to the account, “The religious fervor of the members and converts is at white heat. The Holiness people have practically captured all east and northeast Cleveland, and their strength is materially increasing.”
By mid-October cool weather and exhaustion drove the meetings back to the church house. There had been 105 conversions, 163 baptized with the Spirit, and 106 added to the church. Among those new members was a future general overseer, F.J. Lee. A well respected member of the Berry Street Baptist Church, Lee was particularly intrigued when Evangelist Ella Clyde Cotton sang in tongues. After his first night at the revival Lee went home and carefully studied the Scriptures. That night the family kitchen became his altar, and he was sanctified. When Lee returned to the revival, the rear benches proved not to be exempt from the power of the Spirit, and Lee received the baptism in the Holy Ghost. Disturbed and frightened relatives called for a doctor who pronounced Lee’s symptoms “a good case of religion.”
It was reported that 5,000 people attended the revival the evening following Lee’s Spirit baptism—a sign of blessings to come. God continued to use revivals to save the lost, sanctify, baptize with the Holy Spirit, and add members and leaders to the Church of God.
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This article was written by Church of God Historian David G. Roebuck, Ph.D., who is director of the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center and assistant professor of the history of Christianity at Lee University. This “Church of God Chronicles” was first published in the October 2008 Church of God Evangel.
