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Thanks. That is interesting information. I don't remember reading about the big epidemic. WOW.Born 1903 My dad came into the church in the mid 1920s. I have wondered a lot what happened to all of Dad's book of minutes.....Anyway I appreciate the history lesson. I think A.J. did as well as he could at the time and under the circumstances. Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/

The first year of the Bible Training School in Cleveland, one of the students died of the flu. AJT and Mary Tomlinson made part of their home a dorm for the unmarried students (also fed them their meals), and one of the students died in their home. In his diary, AJT reported several had been sick (including himself) with what he thought was the flu.During that time, the Wilson administration was more concerned with the COG teaching of members not going to war than the effects of the flu. The church (and AJT) were subject to investigations and if I remember correctly the Evangel was censored.It is said that doctors and nurses often refused to treat those who suffered from the flu, and towns people avoided contact. It was often left up to people of faith to take care of the sick and dying.Mat

Doyle, I don't think there were two assemblies in 1919, rather it may have been (got to check the sources) around 1913, when the assembly was moved from a winter month to a fall month (so two were done in that year).What did occur after not having the assembly in 1918 was in the following couple of years the adoption of the ill conceived financial plan where all the tithes of local church were sent to Cleveland and then dispersed by a committee of seven based on need and effectiveness back to the local churches. Nothing like money issues to split a church and destroy a ministry.I don't know if the difficult times of 1918 caused the church and AJT to favor this plan, or if they thought it was somehow Biblical (the early Acts church having all things common), but it was a disaster for the church and AJT. The question I have had, is did AJT push for new ministries, such as expanding the publishing house, opening an orphanage, starting a the Bible school and building a new tabernacle, during a time he should have been consolidating gains. AJT is an example why a minister should not count his personal income as use for the church and the church as his personal ministry. In the end AJT lost all, and I have come to feel it was not worth the damage done to his ministry or reputation to push so hard.

I found this really interesting. Not related to the COG, but my great-grandfather and a great uncle died in the 1918 flu epidemic. My great-grandmother eventually remarried but she couldn't afford to take care of all of her children, so they were farmed out to other relatives. Eventually my grandmother went to an orphanage (not sure which one) and lived there until she was older. She learned to sew there and supported herself as a seamstress as an adult. It's hard to imagine that happening now. We never know what things will shape our lives.Thanks for sharing More of Him...less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name

Carolyn,In many countries around the world what your family suffered through is still a reality. We are blessed to live in a nation with a social safety net and some of the best health care in the world. In 1918 there this was not the case, and if there is a major pandemic I fear the safety net in the US may not be strong enough.

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