Researching Bebe Patten

Born Willa "Willie" Bebe Harrison on September 13, 1913 to Newton and Matricia Priscilla Harrison, she began attending L.I.F.E. Bible College at seventeen, and upon graduation from L.I.F.E., became the Tennessee State Evangelist of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. In the summer of 1932 Bebe married Alton Bowman but the couple was divorced at the end of 1933. Bebe conducted revival campaigns as a "girl evangelist" first with Lettie Harper and later with Mabel Lawson. Both of these co-workers were also graduates of L.I.F.E. Bible College. In 1935, Bebe Harrison married C. Thomas Patten, who worked with her during her evangelistic crusades and her Oakland revival services. Bebe and Carl were ordained by the Fundamental Ministerial and Layman Association (FMLA - current name: Association of Fundamental Ministers and Churches) on July 6, 1937. The Temple Lighthouse Church in Cleveland, Ohio, the church of which Bebe and Carl were pastors, was also a FMLA-member church. Bebe and Carl left the FMLA in 1943 and were ordained by the International Ministerial Foundation, Inc. of Fresno, California.

Patten became a national evangelist, arrived in Oakland, California, in 1944 and began an evangelistic crusade there. The meetings continued nightly for nineteen weeks, in which as many as 5,000 people a night attended in the Oakland Auditorium Arena. This crusade led in 1944 to the founding of the Oakland Bible Institute (now Patten University) and the Academy of Christian Education high school (now Patten Academy of Christian Education: K-12), Christian Temple (now Christian Cathedral), and the Oakland Bible Church (now Christian Evangelical Churches of America, Inc.) C. Thomas Patten would spend 3 year in San Quentin for stealing money from his congregation. He later died in a rehabilitation hospital from his addiction to morphine.

Bebe Patten had three children: identical twins Rebecca and Priscilla in 1950 and Thomas Patten Jr. in 1954.

For her achievements in education and religion, Patten received resolutions from the California State Senate (1978, 1994, and 2003) and Elihu Harris (1994).