Fields of the Wood is a religious park of more than 200 acres in Cherokee County, North Carolina, owned by the Church of God of Prophecy. It is best known for its 300-foot-wide, mountainside representation of the Ten Commandments.

History

Fields of the Wood was the creation of

A. J. Tomlinson Ambrose Jessup (A.J.) Tomlinson (September 22, 1865 – October 2, 1943), a former Quaker, united with the Holiness Church at Camp Creek in 1903. With his drive, vision, and organizational skills, he was elected the first general overseer of the ...

(1865-1943), ultimate founder of the several Pentecostal Holiness denominations called the Church of God, five of which have headquarters in

Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of and largest city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradley and neigh ...

. In 1940, Tomlinson, as head of the Church of God of Prophecy, returned to the area to memorialize the place where he said God had revealed to him the true church in 1903—he having realized that in the same year he had founded the Church in the extreme southwestern county of North Carolina, the Wright Brothers had made their first successful flight in the extreme far eastern part of the state. Tomlinson believed that the same chapter in the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

had predicted both. Tomlinson named the park "Fields of the Wood" after an obscure reference in the King James Version of Psalms 132: 6: "We found it in the fields of the wood." In 1941, Tomlinson dedicated the site with a sermon while church-leased airplanes dropped

gospel tracts A tract is a literary work and, in current usage, usually religious in nature. The notion of what constitutes a tract has changed over time. By the early part of the 21st century, a tract referred to a brief pamphlet used for religious and poli ...

to fulfill

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

32: 2: "May my teaching drop as the rain." Some temporary markers were placed on the site in 1940, but most permanent construction occurred after 1943 under the direction of Tomlinson's son, M. A. Tomlinson, and other leaders of the Church of God of Prophecy.

Points of interest

Fields of the Wood includes numerous markers and monuments, some of significance to Christians generally and others only to members of the Church of God of Prophecy. These include representations of the three crosses on

Golgotha Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...

and

The Garden Tomb The Garden Tomb ( he, גן הקבר) is a rock-cut tomb in Jerusalem, which was unearthed in 1867 and is considered by some Protestants to be the site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus. The tomb has been dated by Israeli archaeologist G ...

; a baptismal pool; "Prayer Mountain," featuring 29 monuments with quotations from the Bible and four markers summarizing the history of the Church of God of Prophecy; and at the top, a "Prayed and Prevailed" marker where written prayers are often left by visitors. Nearby is a small airplane retired from the "White Angel Fleet." On the opposite Burger Mountain is a representation of the Ten Commandments with letters 5 feet high and 4 feet wide, bordered with 1 foot concrete sections measuring 300 feet from side-to-side. At the top of the mountain a concrete "All Nations Cross" is the outlined on the ground with 86 flag poles flying flags of some of the countries where the Church has ministries. Three short hiking trails lead down from the mountain to restrooms, picnic tables, a gift shop, and a café. The site has no campground or large preaching venue. About a half mile from the park are related sites of historical and devotional importance to the Church of God, including the house where the first General Assembly met in 1906, the site of a school where 1896 religious meetings included the practice of glossolalia, and a marker commemorating the location of the Holiness Church at Camp Creek, a predecessor of the Church of God."Fields of the Wood Biblical Theme Park Visitor’s Guide" (2012), 26-29
Church of God of Prophecy website

References

{{coord, 35.1205928, -84.2523370, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-NC, display=title Church of God of Prophecy Pentecostalism American Pentecostals Churches of God Christians Cherokee County, North Carolina Tourist attractions in Cherokee County, North Carolina