Gilbert Earl Patterson was an American Holiness Pentecostal leader and minister who served as the international Presiding Bishop and Chief Apostle of the Church of God in Christ, Inc. Gilbert Earl Patterson (September 22, 1939[1] – March 20, 2007[2]) was an American Holiness Pentecostal leader and minister who served as the international Presiding Bishop and Chief Apostle of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Inc. Bishop Patterson was the second youngest person to ever be elected Presiding Bishop of COGIC at the age 60 in 2000, second to his predeceased uncle Bishop J. O. Patterson, Sr who was 56 when he was elected Presiding Bishop in 1968.