Heritage Exhibit, Magazine Celebrate Church Pioneers

The Church of God Heritage Exhibit, “Pillars of Pentecost,” is now open at the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center located in Squires Library on the campus of Lee University.

Cleveland, TN–“Pillars of Pentecost: Church of God History – Our First Fifty Years” is now open to the public at the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center on the campus of Lee University.

Under the leadership of Chairman James E. Cossey, the Church of God Historical Commission and the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center produced and unveiled “Pillars of Pentecost” at the Church of God’s 79th International General Assembly in Indianapolis this past July. The exhibit, which is now installed at the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center, opened in Cleveland this past November with a program that included comments from Church of God Historian Dr. David G. Roebuck and Assistant General Overseer Dr. Mark Williams. The exhibit will remain open through June 2025.

The Church of God Heritage Exhibit features stories, photographs, and artifacts telling the inspirational history of many Church of God pioneers. The exhibit explores the vision and sacrifices of men and women God used to build the Church from a single congregation on the banks of Barney Creek in eastern Tennessee to today’s global movement of more than nine million members in more than 190 nations and territories of the world.

​“The pages of Scripture reveal much about God’s people,” observes Roebuck. “From the Garden of Eden to John the Revelator on the Isle of Patmos, we continue to benefit from the accounts of their lives – we are inspired by faithfulness, and we learn from failures. The same is true of our Church of God pioneers.” R.G. Spurling desired to faithfully build a Church founded on loving God and loving neighbor. W.F. Bryant and fellow pilgrims in the Camp Creek community of western North Carolina sought to be sanctified and received the blessing of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. A.J. Tomlinson left his Indiana home to minister to the children of Appalachia. His leadership expanded the Church of God’s vision into a global harvest and also led to a painful season of discerning better administrative policies and practices.

Beginning with R.G. Spurling’s Christian Union in 1886, the “Pillars of Pentecost” exhibit utilizes 26 panels and seven display cases to highlight the Church of God’s focus on reaching the harvest at home and abroad. Central to this growth was the passion and vision of A.J. Tomlinson – a “home missionary” whose Pentecostal experience transformed his ministry and that of the Church. Then 50 years from the movement’s formation at Barney Creek, J.H. Ingram circled the globe to reach the world with the gospel.

Accompanying the exhibit is a 40-page magazine by the same name, which was also unveiled at the General Assembly. It is available at the exhibit free of charge while supplies last or can be ordered by sending $5 per copy for shipping and handling to Dixon Pentecostal Research Center, 260 11th Street NE, Cleveland, TN 37311. A free PDF of the magazine is available by clicking here.

The Heritage Exhibit is free and open to the public during regular operating hours of the library, which can be found by clicking here. Squires Library is located on the corner of 11th Street and Paul Conn Parkway.
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For more information about the exhibit, contact Roebuck at [email protected].

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