Church History
The Reidsville Church of God: was started after a tent revival by Rev. Burnon Jarriel. Bro. Jarriel brought a tent to Reidsville and had some saved, filled with the Holy Ghost and some healed.
The church was organized in Feb 1977 and services were held in the old TOS theater. Later they bought a small house on Mosely Street. In 1983 the congregation had outgrown the little house and they moved into an old store on Highway 56. The building was completely renovated with sanctuary and Sunday school room, and was home to the congregation until April of 2012. At that time the church moved into the current location, which is a brand new building.
The church has had only four pastors: Bro. Jarriel for 12 years, Bro. Alton Wommack for one year, then Bro. Jarriel returned for another 12 years. Next was Bro. Steve Johnson who pastored for three years, and Bro. Prince was appointed in April of 1999 and has led the congregation from then until the present.
A Brief History of the Church of God
The Church of God began on August 19, 1886, in Monroe County, Tennessee, near the North Carolina border. Former Baptist Richard Green Spurling preached in a millhouse along Barney Creek and eight persons formed a Christian Union for the purpose of following the New Testament as their rule for faith and practice, giving each other equal rights and privilege to interpret Scripture, and sitting together as the church of God. Twenty-one years later the growing movement formally adopted the name Church of God.
Ten years after the organizational meeting, a revival at the Shearer Schoolhouse in nearby Camp Creek, North Carolina, introduced the doctrine of sanctification to the community. Opposition to this doctrine led to severe persecution, but a spirit of revival prevailed and the Holiness believers experienced an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that included speaking in tongues and divine healing. Such experiences prepared the way for the explosion of the Pentecostal movement in the early twentieth century.
Under the leadership of our first General Overseer, A. J. Tomlinson, the Church of God adopted a centralized form of Church government with an inclusive International General Assembly (1906), launched a world evangelization effort beginning in the Bahamas (1909), inaugurated the Church of God Evangel (1910), and established educational opportunities for ministers and members (1918). Today Church of God ministries include more than 7 million members in 178 nations and territories. Some 36,000 congregations serve around the world, while regional and international ministries provide resources and support through our divisions of World Evangelization, Care, Discipleship, Education, and Support Services.