Chips on the Mountain

Since Tennessee's Bishop A. J. Tomlinson died in 1943, the Church of God, which he founded, has been divided into warring factions.* One group, with national headquarters in Queens Village, N.Y. and a membership of 94,000, is led by Bishop Homer Tomlinson, 61. the founder's elder son. Another, called the Church of God of Prophecy, with a membership of 65.000. is run by Overseer Milton Tomlinson, the bishop's 46-year-old brother, who lives in Cleveland, Tenn. Last week, after several years of feuding over leadership of the denomination, the bishop arrived in Cleveland (pop. 12,605) to "reconcile" the factions. In his right hand he carried a 12-lb. sledge hammer.

Leading a small group of followers, Bishop Tomlinson walked into his brother's administration building. After exchanging a fraternal kiss of peace with Overseer Tomlinson. he announced that his brother was deposed from office. His proposal: transfer the Tennessee denomination's headquarters to Queens Village, and close down its million-dollar shrine on North Carolina's Burger Mountain, which, thundered the bishop, had become "a place of idolatry." Overseer Tomlinson quietly but firmly disagreed.

Bishop Tomlinson, not surprised, set off for the Burger Mountain shrine with his sledge hammer to dramatize his idolatry charge for the denomination's membership.

As he approached the shrine's huge outdoor display of the Ten Commandments, lettered in concrete, Sheriff M. G. Crawford watched closely. "You strike one blow with that sledge hammer on this property." he told Bishop Tomlinson, "and I'll have to arrest you." The bishop moved his lips in prayer, then swung, chipping away a bit of concrete from the Eighth Commandment ("Thou shalt not steal"). Said Sheriff Crawford: "That does it." He took the bishop off to jail. After an hour, Bishop Tomlinson was released to await trial for destroying private property. Said he confidently: "The trial will not be for Homer Tomlinson, but for idolatry."

-Besides Founder Tomlinson's denomination, there are at least 200 other U.S. religious bodies which bear the name "Church of God" or a variant of the name.

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