Family, faithful, famous pay respects at Temple
By James Dowd
Commercial Appeal
March 30, 2007
The seat in the center of the stage at Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ was empty.
Vibrant purple and red cloth draped the seat of honor, the seat of remembrance, a visual reminder of the legacy and loss of a beloved saint.
A capacity crowd gathered in the 5,000-seat sanctuary for the local memorial service for Bishop G.E. Patterson, the COGIC chief apostle who died on March 20 at 67.
In an impassioned eulogy, coming nearly three hours after Thursday's memorial service began, Elder Frank A. White acknowledged the void.
"As we gather here tonight there is a mutual agreement that Bishop Patterson's transition to another world came all too soon," White said.
"Almost every seat in this place has been filled, but we cannot help but notice that there is an empty seat among us and there is an empty seat in our hearts. This seat on Earth may be empty, but there's a seat in heaven filled tonight."
Earlier, when the church's doors opened at 3 p.m. for the second of three days of public viewings of the bishop's body, the line of mourners curved around the building.
Inside, for three and a half hours, the faithful passed by the bishop's casket.
Dressed in white, kind eyes complementing a patient smile, greeter Beverly Jefferson surveyed the swelling crowd and sighed.
So many people, so many lives, touched by a man anointed with a vision of holiness that reached around the world.
And like many, Jefferson said her first encounter with Bishop Patterson occurred when, as a child, she heard the renowned minister preach with passion and piety of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
"I'll never forget it. He talked about Jesus being a habit-breaker," said Jefferson, 43. "I told my mother that one day I wanted to be a member of that man's church and now I am, but I miss him so."
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