Homegoing for Bishop J.O. Patterson

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - He was a foot soldier armed with natural charm, dry wit and the power of articulation, whose mission in life successfully spanned the divergent worlds of politics and religion. On Friday it was time to celebrate Bishop J.O. Patterson Jr.'s final ascendency to being memorialized as an eternal servant in the Church of God In Christ.

Hundreds of mourners attended the national tribute for the 76-year old Memphis politician and religious leader who died last weekend after a long battle with illness. With his wife Judith and children seated in the front row of the iconic Mason Temple, the hierarchy of the church paid homage to the man who'd brought his talents and drive to the Chairmanship of COGIC's General Assembly. His two and a half hour "homegoing" service paid homage to a departed family triad who individually left their own indelible imprints on one of the largest religious denominations in the nation.

“He's just a product of the church by his grandfather being the founder of the church; his father, the first elected Presiding Bishop of the Church. He was engrained within the church. He knew the people. He knew our personalities, our style of worship and it was just great,” said Bishop Milton Hawkins, COGIC Temple of Deliverance.

“If we have anything like aristocracy or royalty in the church it would have to be this family that sits before us on this day,” stated COGIC Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake.

Though respects were paid to his life in public service as a record serving Memphis City Councilman and his brief stint as the city's first African American Mayor, it was his work in the clergy which took center stage on Friday.

“He was an academician actually before he became a minister and being a lawyer he had those roots in the Church of God in Christ,” said Rev. Bill Adkins with Greater Amani. “When he came into the ministry it was just natural that he always felt he'd completed everything he could do in civic life. So, he went on to the church work. So, that's one of things that made J.O. great.”

Civic leader, humanitarian and man of the cloth, J.O. Patterson Jr. fit into each persona with the quiet ease of man instilled from birth with a "can do" spirit.

Bishop Hawkins said, “It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday. But, I believe in his unique and humorous way he would add, ‘In our heart it can be did!’”