About Gilbert E. Patterson
Gilbert Earl Patterson (September 22, 1939 – March 20, 2007) was an American Holiness Pentecostal leader and pastor. He 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), a 6 million-member Holiness Pentecostal denomination from 2000 to 2007. Patterson was the second youngest person ever elected Presiding Bishop of COGIC at the age of 60 in 2000, second to Bishop J. O. Patterson Sr., who was elected at 56 in 1968. 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. 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. In March 1975, Patterson founded Bountiful Blessings Temple of Deliverance (also known as: Temple of Deliverance, Cathedral of Bountiful Blessings), which he pastored until his death. Let the thing go; and I've been through with it since that day...Patterson, having won election to the General Board, served his four year term and was reelected to the Board in 2000. Patterson became the first candidate to defeat an incumbent Presiding Bishop in the denomination's history.
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