Church of God of Prophecy

Church of God of Prophecy
Flag of the Church of God of Prophecy
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Holiness Pentecostal
General Overseer	Sam N. Clements
Region	Worldwide
Members	1,500,000

The Church of God of Prophecy is a Pentecostal Holiness Christian non-denomination. It is one of five Church of God bodies headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee that arose from a small meeting of believers who gathered at the Holiness Church at Camp Creek near the Tennessee/North Carolina border on Saturday, June 13, 1903.

The Church of God of Prophecy has congregations and missions in over 130 countries, with a membership of over 1,500,000 In 2006, membership in the United States was 84,762 in 1,871 Churches. Ministries of the Church include homes for children, bible training institutes, youth camps and ministerial aid. The Church operates Fields of the Wood, a Bible theme park and popular tourist attraction, near Murphy, North Carolina.

The Church has, in the past, internally referred to itself as "Church of God" in its worship services. Many past official records utilized that name with the parenthetical qualifier of "(Cleveland, Tennessee)". However, the more generic moniker fell out of common official use many decades ago. There was controversy over which side of the division had the legal right to the name and who was really the true "Church of God". This (COGOP) body was definitely a part of the original "Church of God", over which originally A. J. Tomlinson was the General Overseer. In 1923, these two churches became divided over government and financial issues. In 1952 after lengthy litigation over the use of the simple name "Church of God", a court in Bradley County, Tennessee, ordered that the Church of God of which A. J. Tomlinson is Overseer be called 'Tomlinson Church of God'. The Church renamed itself the 'Church of God of Prophecy'. Both groups claim the same history up to the year 1923.

In August 1886, Elder Richard Spurling (1810–1891), an ordained Baptist minister, associated with the Latter Rain movement, rejected the dominant Landmark Baptist views of the church, which he believed were too credal and exclusive. With seven members from Holly Springs and Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Churches in Monroe County, Tennessee, and Cherokee County, North Carolina, he organized the Christian Union. These Christians hoped to free themselves from man-made creeds and unite on the principles of the New Testament. In September 1886, Spurling's son, Richard Green Spurling (1857–1935), was ordained as pastor of the Christian Union congregation. He also formed two other congregations. The father and son shared a vision to restore the church.