Memorial for Bishop G E Patterson
 

The Greatest Leader since their founder, Bishop Mason, Bishop GE Patterson Passed away today.

I really enjoyed his music, visiting his church and even his preaching

COGIC Bishop G.E. Patterson dies
By James Dowd
The Commercial Appeal
March 20, 2007


Bishop G.E. Patterson, leader of the international Church of God in Christ, died today after a long illness, church leaders confirm.

Patterson, chief apostle of the Memphis-based COGIC, was 67. Under his leadership, COGIC grew to more than 6 million members in 54 countries.

Arrangements are incomplete, said Bishop Jerry Maynard, chief operating officer for COGIC. "I've lost not only a friend, but my best friend," Maynard said Tuesday afternoon. "It's like losing a part of oneself."




Copyright 2007, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.

I was about to log out when I saw this...so sorry to read this news...:(

I also am sorry to hear this news. Several decades ago back when there were those high power Mexican radio stations beaming religous programs in the South I used to listen to his radio broadcast and enjoyed it a lot.

I just watched a small tribute on the news - it is sad.

He really had a great presence here in Memphis and throughout the world.

I'll post other articles as they come out.

He was a great preacher.

There was none other then Bishop Patterson. Some Sunday mornings, I would tune him in to hear him preach. He was an exciting minister to listen to...often times singing the last few parts of his sermon.

He will be very missed.

COGIC Biship G.E. Patterson dead at 67

March 20, 2007 06:06 PM CDT




Action News 5 has learned that Church of God in Christ Bishop G.E. Patterson passed away today.

The following is a statement from the Carter Malone Group, which acted as spokesperson for Patterson and COGIC:

This afternoon at 4:03 p.m. at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God In Christ, Bishop G.E. Patterson, passed away as a result of heart failure. Patterson was surrounded by his wife, Mrs. Louise Patterson, and his family.

Patterson served as the leader of the fourth-largest Protestant religious denomination in the world with an estimated membership of 6.5 million members. He led the denomination since November 2000.



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Two years ago, Patterson disclosed he had prostate cancer. In January, he was hospitalized with undisclosed illness.

Below is Patterson's bio (bbless.org):

Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson was born in 1939 to Bishop W. A. and Mrs. Mary Patterson, Sr. in Humboldt, Tennessee. He was reared in Memphis, Tennessee and Detroit, Michigan. Bishop J. S. Bailey ordained him in 1958 as an elder in the Church of God in Christ. In 1962, Bishop Patterson became co-pastor with his father at Holy Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tennessee. Bishop Patterson continued his pastorate in 1975 as the founder and pastor of Temple of Deliverance, the Cathedral of the Bountiful Blessings in Memphis, Tennessee. Today, Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ is one of the nation's fastest growing congregations with over 12,000 on its membership roll. The church is located at 369 G. E. Patterson Avenue.

Temple of Deliverance also serves as the home church base for the rapidly growing Bountiful Blessings Ministries (BBM) which is viewed internationally on BET and TBN cable networks weekly, as well as on local TV stations throughout the nation. BBM has a mailing list of over 100,000 active donors from outside the Memphis viewing audience. Bishop Patterson is founder and president of BBM.

Bishop Patterson is a learned minister. He has studied at the Detroit Bible Institute, and LeMoyne Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee. He holds an honorary Doctorate from Oral Roberts University and is the president of the Charles H. Mason Bible College of Tennessee Fourth Jurisdiction in Memphis, Tennessee. Bishop Patterson is the publisher of Bountiful Blessings Magazine and a contributing writer in the Spirit Filled life Bible (King James Version) published by Thomas Nelson Publishers and edited by Dr. Jack W. Hayford. In July 2002, Whitaker House Publishers released Bishop Patterson's first book entitled "Here Comes The Judge".

Bishop Patterson is a 20th century Apostle of Jesus Christ. He is a renowned national speaker, known for his simplistic messages that transcend all barriers of race, gender, age and walks of life for people around the globe. One of his themes, "Be healed, be delivered, and be set free" has become a popular expression. The nation demand for audio and video tapes is overwhelming. Bishop Patterson is the president and general manager of the Memphis based Radio Station WBBP (1480 AM), a full time gospel station with over 100,000 daily listeners.

Bishop Patterson humbly serves God and his community through the ministries he has established at Temple of Deliverance Church (TOD). These ministries have a positive and direct impact on: unemployment-TOD employs over 100 people and has over 100 local and national vendors; wellness-TOD is a member of the Church Health Center; education-TOD issues scores of $1,000 scholarships annually to students entering or returning to colleges or universities; family life-a prayer ministry with more than 40 telephone lines and a prison ministry that serves in the Criminal Justice Center and the Penal Farm in Memphis, Tennessee. There are numerous other ministries at TOD that address the needs of the community.

Bishop Patterson is a leader of church leaders. He is the Presiding Bishop of Church of God in Christ, Incorporated. Bishop Patterson has helped finance many local churches and helped organize seven other churches across the nation.

Bishop Patterson has been married to his lovely wife, Louise D. Patterson for 35 years. We are proud to present to you this highly respected and committed man of God.

This is hard to believe, but very true. One of GE Pattersons biggest admirers was Don Imus. He is on MSNBC every morning from 5am to 8am cst.

I didn't know that. Do you know how he became acquainted with the Bishop?

The passing of my Pastor and Bishop
 

Were you listening to Imus yesterday (Tuesday)? How freaky! He was just asking Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. how Bishop Patterson was doing. They talked about him for a while and how he has been fighting prostate cancer but that he was doing better now.

WHOA!:eek:

I'm not sure, but Imus has played parts GE Patterson sermons as "bumpers" for a long time.

This morning they were giving Imus a hard time because Imus missed a returned call from GE Pattersons wife yesterday.

Oh, that's too bad.

I'm sure the homecoming service is going to be unreal!

I missed Imus on Tuesday.

I happened to see Bishop Patterson in the Memphis airport about 8 months ago. I thought he looked pretty good for someone battling cancer./

He will be missed!!

Presiding Bishop G.E. Patterson of the Church of God in Christ died Tuesday of heart failure at 67. He fought prostate cancer in recent years.

COGIC members gather Tuesday at the Temple of Deliverance for a prayer vigil in remembrance of the late bishop. "I've lost not only a friend, but my best friend," said Bishop Jerry Maynard. Story Tools

By James Dowd
Contact
March 21, 2007
From his humble birth in a tiny West Tennessee town, Bishop G.E. Patterson rose to international prominence as the charismatic leader of one of the nation's largest Christian groups.
As presiding bishop and chief apostle of the Church of God in Christ, he oversaw a global media empire that included television, radio, Internet and publishing divisions, and he was instrumental in swelling the denomination's ranks to more than 6.5 million members in 58 countries.

Bishop Patterson died Tuesday afternoon of heart failure at Methodist University Hospital after battling prostate cancer. He was 67.
"He was progressive and a visionary, but at the same time he was a man who never forgot our heritage, and he knew the Church of God in Christ like the back of his hand," First Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake of West Angeles COGIC in Los Angeles said Tuesday. "He was a great preacher, a pioneer of media ministries and he elevated our church in ways that touched millions of lives."

Among them, former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., who mourned the bishop's passing.

"America lost an angel today. He was favored by the Almighty and he used his favor to instruct us all on how to be better servants," Ford said in a statement. "I love him like an earthly father. The only thing that gives me some peace is that I'm certain that the Lord has already put him in charge of the humility ministry in Heaven with his chief job being to continue reminding us all that we serve an awesome and all-knowing God."

Dr. David Hall, pastor of Temple COGIC, gave the keynote address at Bishop Patterson's inauguration in 2000 and knew him for more than a quarter-century.

"He was so big, yet so human and accessible," Hall said. "He was world-renowned for his preaching, but he had such a soft touch and a loving heart for the ordinary man."

Lauded as a visionary, Bishop Patterson's influence extended beyond his Memphis pulpit. His Bountiful Blessings Ministries television program was broadcast worldwide, he served as president of gospel radio station WBBP and as president of Podium Records.

But those who knew him best said Bishop Patterson's greatest attribute was his down-to-earth personality and the ability to make everyone he came in contact with feel special.

"I've lost not only a friend, but my best friend," said Bishop Jerry Maynard, chief operating officer for the denomination. "It's like losing a part of one's self."

Historically, COGIC presiding bishops served until they died, but that changed in recent years because of Bishop Patterson's enormous popularity and support within the denomination.

In 1995, Chandler David Owens of Atlanta became presiding bishop after Bishop L.H. Ford died. Owens was expected to be re-elected to a four-year term in 1996 without opposition, but for the first time in COGIC history, the top spot was challenged.

Delegates had to choose between Owens and Bishop Patterson, who had received the most votes in the General Board election. In the runoff, Owens won by a single vote.

Expressing a desire for church unity, Bishop Patterson did not seek a recount and Owens served a four-year term.

In 2000, Bishop Patterson ran for the office and won with 59 percent of the vote, becoming the sixth leader of the denomination founded in Memphis in 1907 by Bishop Charles Harrison Mason. It marked the first time in COGIC history that a presiding bishop had been unseated.

The two faced off again in 2004, but Owens withdrew from the ballot and Bishop Patterson was unanimously elected. He announced afterward that he would not seek a third term.

Bishop Patterson is credited with expanding the denomination's appeal by focusing on traditional, Biblical teachings. He also redefined the role of presiding bishop, which he once said had become mired in bureaucracy and isolation far above the people it was created to serve.

In an attempt to be more accessible, in 2002 Bishop Patterson returned to founder Mason's practice of holding Bible studies during the annual convocation and held them every year during his time as chief apostle.

"It is a return to the older days, a time of Biblical preaching and prayer," Bishop Patterson said in an interview with The Commercial Appeal in November 2003. "Some of the membership felt it was new, but to me it was simply a matter of worshiping as I did when I was a boy."

In 2005, Bishop Patterson acknowledged he was battling prostate cancer. At the 99th annual COGIC Holy Convocation last November, he said he'd considered vacating the post, but decided against the idea.

"I asked the General Board to have a special election in April to elect an able-bodied man, but I was shouted down," Bishop Patterson said.

Rather than squabbling about denominational politics, Bishop Patterson said COGIC's focus should be on saving souls and building up the church.

And he emphasized at the time that he was ready to do his part.

"If my body being afflicted can get us back to where God wants us to be, then I'm willing to suffer," he said.

Gilbert Earl Patterson was born Sept. 22, 1939, in Humboldt, Tenn., to Bishop W.A. and Mrs. Mary Patterson. He grew up in Memphis before moving to Detroit with his family in 1952.

The young Patterson preached his first sermon at 17 and was ordained as a COGIC elder by Bishop J.S. Bailey in Detroit in 1958. In December of 1961, he returned to Memphis to become co-pastor with his father at Holy Temple COGIC in Memphis.

In 1975, after years of feuding with his uncle, then-Presiding Bishop J.O. Patterson, about establishing new congregations and jurisdictional authority, the younger Patterson left COGIC and founded Temple of Deliverance, the Cathedral of the Bountiful Blessings in Memphis.

Housed in the former Mt. Vernon Baptist Church at 547 Mississippi Blvd., the congregation outgrew the facilities within three years and a new 1,200-seat sanctuary was constructed.

With a price tag of $1.2 million, it was the city's first church built by black workers that cost more than a million dollars.

Eventually, Bishop Patterson mended the family rift and was invited back into active COGIC ministry.

Under Bishop Patterson's leadership, Temple of Deliverance COGIC moved in 1999 to a $13 million campus that featured a 5,000-seat worship center. By 2007, the church -- located at 369 G.E. Patterson -- had grown to more than 13,000 members.

Bishop Patterson is survived by his wife, Louise. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

-- James Dowd: 529-2737

thanks RC for all the info.......good stuff

You're welcome. I didn't realize they didn't have any children.

I always liked Bro. Patterson. Sorry to see him go home.

I enjoyed Bishop G E Patterson preaching.

Nathan Eckstadt

Thanks DA for posting on the other thread.

Bishop Patterson .... 1992 ... THIS SAME JESUS.

[YT="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpJwVVXv1UI"]dpJwVVXv1UI[/YT]

When the Dust Settles ... Bishop Patterson tries to preach while the HG ... falls down.

Salvation, Healing & Deliverance - Bishop G. E. Patterson

Now I know that some African American Pastor love robes, but I think this might a little to far. I keep thinking I am seeing a Roman Catholic Bishop.

Did you enjoy the message ....???

Just like some of us take issue that the main message can get mixed up the insistence of a certain kind of packaging, I didn't because frankly I can't get beyond his ecclesiatical garb.

Would a $1200 business suit have opened OUR ears to the MESSAGE?

I can hear the Bishop Patterson singing this song while dancing around the THRONE ....

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Well at this stage in my life I would have a problem with that as well.

Services

All services will be at Temple of Deliverance Church Of God In Christ at 369 G. E. Patterson.

7 p.m. March 29: Local church memorial service

7 p.m. March 30: Jurisdictional memorial service

10 a.m. March 31: National church funeral service

I used to hear him also on XERF Ciudad Acuna across the River from Del Rio, TX.

The White Bishop!
 

Thank you guys for being kind to my Pastor, Mentor, Bishop, Father and Friend. I joined Bountiful Blessings Temple of Deliverance - Now - Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ - the day it was opened in 1975. I was the only white one there. Bishop Patterson was as kind to me as anyone has ever been in my life. He blessed me to minister in his stead many times and for that I am grateful. I never took advantage of his pulpit to further my own personal agenda or to preach doctrine contrary to what he preached. He was my Pastor and Bishop and I greatly honor and admire him.

I will be participating in all three funerals so if you see the white Bishop in the crowd - you will know who it is. I am clean shaken this week - Legal in the Apostolic Church - Oh Praise His Name! :happydance

Having lost my pastor, mentor, father, and friend also [my Dad]... I mourn w/ you, AB. A hole that is not easily filled ... I pray for His peace to be your balm.

Bishop Patterson
 

Thank you Daniel. He was a great man and one of the most humble men I have ever met or heard. I have wept at the feeling of the Judgment of God while he preached and I have danced in the aisles as he preached the Glory down. I have heard just about every preacher there is and he has always been my favorite. I watched him here in Atlanta as he was sick and exhausted as could be. From the time he was introduced it was 15 minutes of preaching and he took his seat as 2500 saints were shouting, running, weeping, speaking in tongues, and rejoicing in the Lord. It was 15 minutes of one of the most powerful messages on resisting the power of God that I had ever heard. He could preach more in 15 minutes and say more than most could say in a month long series!

I could never convey to you what this man meant to me. My heart is so heavy tonight as I think of the magnitude of his passing and how it will affect Temple of Deliverance and the Church of God in Christ.

All I can say AB ... is I know. We have seen Christlikeness ... we marvel that it's possible.

My dad ...

Click here to view ....

:friend

Atlanta Bishop. Sorry for your loss. Our family has some close friends in that org and we were saddened by this news.

Thanks guys - Pray for Mother Louise Patterson and Bishop Charles Blake who will be at the forefront of leadership now and the entire COGIC. Temple of Deliverance has never had another Pastor so we do not have a clue as to who would step in these huge shoes of Bishop Patterson.

It's a tenuous time ... in addition to grief ... transition can be difficult.