The Following Appeared in The Commercial Appeal on Friday March 23, 2007
Bishop G. E. Patterson, that’s Gilbert Earl Patterson, was simply a class act! He was an individual who pursued his goals with everything that he had. I remember being amazed whenever he would publicly state the great things that our church would accomplish in the days to come. Many times at the very inception of a project he would tell many people how a particular project would be an overwhelming success. His predictions would come to pass time after time.
He was my pastor for nearly 10 years. I gleaned from him every chance that I could. He could say more in a 30-second motivational nugget than many individuals could say in a series of speeches. He was definitely a visionary, as the headline on your March 21 article about his death boldly proclaimed.
My greatest memory was a closed-door meeting in 1998 with perhaps the greatest person in the Christian world. I had encountered a problem with others concerning my elevation in the church. Bishop Patterson addressed my problem with the following statement: “Minister Smith, I have noticed over time that God always has a way of certifying his own.” These were words from a man who had lost the race for presiding bishop by one vote in 1996 that he should rightfully have won. His concern for The Church of God in Christ was greater than his personal ambitions. He was an icon in every sense of the word.
Bishop Patterson’s diligence and hard work are a testament to the great legacy that he is leaving so many individuals. He was simply a man without a Plan B. It is my prayer that he can contain his excitement when he hears the hallowed words: “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
Pastor Stephen F. Smith
Sure House Church, Inc.
Filed under: Bishop Charles Blake, G. E. Patterson | 3 Comments »