Gilbert E. Patterson

Gilbert Earl Patterson (September 22, 1939^[1] – March 20, 2007^[2]) was an American Holiness Pentecostal leader and pastor who served as the founding pastor of the Temple of Deliverance COGIC Cathedral of Bountiful Blessings, one of the largest COGIC Churches in the Eastern United States, from 1975 to 2007. He also served as the Presiding Bishop the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Incorporated, a 6 million-member Holiness Pentecostal denomination, that has now grown to become one of the largest predominantly African American Pentecostal denominations in the United States, from 2000 to 2007.^[3][4] Bishop Patterson was the second youngest person to ever be elected Presiding Bishop of COGIC at the age of 60 in 2000, second to his predeceased uncle Bishop J. O. Patterson, Sr., who was 56 when he was elected Presiding Bishop in 1968.^[5][6] Patterson was famously known across many Christian denominations for being an educated Pentecostal-Charismatic preacher and theologian, and known for his eloquent and musically charismatic preaching style, which was often featured on his church's television broadcasts through BET and the Word Network.^[7][8]

On March 28, 2007, the United States Senate passed a resolution celebrating the life of Patterson. The sponsors were Senators Barack Obama, Carl Levin, John Kerry, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker.^[9]

Patterson was born in Humboldt, Tennessee on September 22, 1939, to William Archie and Mary Louise Williams Patterson. His family was living in Mississippi at the time, but shortly after in 1941, they moved to Memphis so his father could serve at the Holy Temple, a COGIC church. His father was a COGIC minister, which later led to his own involvement in the church. G.E. Patterson regularly attended church. He accepted and affirmed COGIC traditions and teachings. In 1952, his family moved to Detroit, Michigan so his father could serve at the New Jerusalem COGIC.^[10] A few years later in 1958, Patterson decided to attend Detroit Bible College. He also attended LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis and held an honorary doctorate from Oral Roberts University.^[11] After completing his education he returned to Memphis to co-pastor with his father in 1961.

Patterson served in ministry for 50 years before dying of heart failure due to complications from Prostate cancer in 2007 at the age of 67.^[12] During his time as a minister, he led the largest Pentecostal religious group in the nation consisting of 5.5 million members.^[13] In 1975, he resigned as a pastor in the COGIC after a dispute between his father and J.O. Patterson, his uncle. This caused him to part ways with the denomination. G.E. Patterson wanted to continue ministry outside of the COGIC, which led him to renovating a church in Memphis Tennessee that he named the Temple of Deliverance. His funeral was later held here. This church grew rapidly and had numerous members. The Temple of Deliverance allowed Patterson to hold close to his Pentecostal roots and black holiness.^[10] In 1986, he rejoined the COGIC and reconnected with the denomination after his uncle reached out to settle the feud. This same year, Patterson was ordained as a bishop. His ability to preach simple and understandable messages made him appealing to all age groups. At one point, he was the only COGIC minister with an international audience. He reached an extensive audience through radio ministry and had 15-20 million people watch his Sunday television broadcasts.

In 1992, Patterson was elected as a general board member of COGIC. In the last seven years of his life, from 2000 to 2007, he served as the presiding bishop. Elections for this role occurred every four years. He was also annually named as one of the Power 150 Religious Leaders by Ebony Magazine, for several years until his death in 2007, alongside fellow COGIC Bishop, Bishop Charles E. Blake, who would actually succeed Patterson as Presiding Bishop of the COGIC denomination. Patterson was also the editor and publisher of the Bountiful Blessings Magazine, which had a distribution list of over 100,000.^[14] His book 'Here Comes the Judge: Finding Freedom for The Promised Land", a Christian theological book he wrote about submitting and surrendering your life to the sovereignty of God as a Christian believer, comparing doing so to Moses and the Israelites from the Old Testament, received high praise and sold thousands of copies.

Patterson was deeply involved in the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike in 1968. This is notable due to COGIC members having had a reputation for being disconnected from the Civil Rights Movements of the 1950s and 1960s at the time. He was a founder of COME, Memphis Community on the Move for Equality, which played a powerful role in the strike. Patterson encouraged Memphis to support the strike through his radio broadcasts. His involvement in the strike demonstrated the amplitude of diverse grassroots black activists that exercised collective agency in order to pursue freedom as well as justice for oppressed and marginalized communities, especially during the African American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s .^[10]