One of the great disappointments in Church of God history is the failure to establish a good base in Memphis, Tennessee. No one tried harder than A. J. Tomlinson to start a Memphis foundation for the COG! He along with M. S. Lemons had some successful revivals. They cooperated with a Camp meeting on the bluff region overlooking the mighty Mississippi River. One of their COG converts was L. P. Adams and they made ties with the whites who were associated with Charles H. Mason’s Church of God In Christ in Memphis.
However Adams parted ways with the COG and he started the Assemblies of God movement from the whites attending the Church of God in Christ, a predominately black denomination. Thus began the history of the AOG starting in Memphis and little success for the COG.
The COG grew in the southern mid-south -Northern Mississippi delta region with early successes. It was mostly all white congregations and several segregated black COG congregations.
The COG remained strongly segregated and has remained so in the Southern states, with little impact upon the Memphis, Tennessee region.
I mistakenly stated that L. P. Adams was a convert. He was well established as a Pentecostal minister and the editor of Pentecostal magazines. He had already started churches in the mid south region. He was brought into the COG and came to the 1910 GA where he spoke at several sessions. However several years later (maybe months) he left the COG and aligned with the Church of God in Christ and later the Assemblies of God.
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