Gilbert E. Patterson, born Gilbert Earl Patterson in Humboldt, Tennessee, on September 22, 1939, was an American Holiness Pentecostal leader, pastor, televangelist, and gospel singer. Patterson attended Detroit Bible College and LeMoyne-Owen College before being ordained as an elder in 1958. In 1975, he founded the Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tennessee, as well as Bountiful Blessings Ministries. Active in civil rights, he co-founded Community on the Move for Equality and supported the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers' strike. In 2000, he was elected Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, serving until 2007. He broadcast weekly sermon broadcasts on television and authored the book Here Comes the Judge: Finding Freedom for The Promised Land. Following his death, the United States Senate passed a resolution honoring his life. Patterson died in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 20, 2007, at 67 years of age.
