BISHOP WILLIAM ARCHIE PATTERSON, SR, the eldest son of Mr. William Marion Patterson and Mrs. Mollie Edwards Patterson, was born April 30, 1898, near Derma, Mississippi. After residing in Mississippi until the year of 1917, his family moved to Round Pond, Arkansas.
    On December 18, 1921, the Lord beautifully saved him and he received the baptism of the Holy Ghost the following watch meeting (New Year’s Eve) night. That was a glorious and wonderful experience that he often thanked and praised God for.
    On November 25, 1923, he and Miss Mary Nauglie Johnson were united in holy matrimony by the late Overseer R.H. I. Clark. A brief married life followed. On November 28, 1925, she was called from labor to reward.
    On July 27, 1927, he and Miss Mary Louise Williams were united in the bonds of holy matrimony in Dyersburg, Tennessee, by the late Bishop A. B. McEwen. To this union six children were born, three sons and three daughters.
    This beautiful union ended when Mother Mary Louise Patterson went to be with the Lord on May 30, 1981, after fifty-four years. Two of his sons also preceded him in death, Frederick Louis Patterson, who died in infancy, and the late Superintendent William Archie Patterson, Jr.
    Bishop Patterson led many souls to the Lord both through evangelism and pastoring. During his long life he held pastorages in Dyer, Tennessee; Fulton, Kentucky; Humboldt, Tennessee; Memphis, Tennessee; and the Mother Church in Lexington, Mississippi. (He was the last Pastor directly appointed to the Lexington church by Bishop C. H. Mason.) He also pastored in Brownsville, Tennessee, and Detroit, Michigan.
    The Lord blessed Bishop Patterson to build the first brick Church of God in Christ from the ground up in Memphis, Tennessee, which is well known throughout the brotherhood as Holy Temple Church of God in Christ where he served as pastor for more than fifty-eight years. He was in his forty-second year of service at the New Jerusalem Church in Detroit, Michigan, at his demise.
    In December, 1958, during the 51^st National Convocation, he was elevated to the office of Bishop and appointed to a portion of North Carolina. He served there three years and during this time, the Lord blessed with eighteen churches and missions. He left the state in fellowship and peace with all. Bishop J. H. Sherman succeeded him in this work.
    Bishop Patterson departed this life on Monday, November 4, 1991, from Baptist Memorial Hospital at
8:15 A. M.

His  son, Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson of Memphis, three daughters, Mrs. Mary Alice Hawkins, Mrs. Lee Ella Smith of Memphis and Mrs. Barbara Jean Davis of Detroit lives to carry his memory and legacy on.
 
 

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