BY GWEN HAYES
Sentinel Editor
After a year of training, Bishop-Elect Michelle B. Patty will be elevated to Bishop. The ceremony, which is open to the public, will be held on Saturday, at the Hilton Hotel Downtown (formerly The Hyatt). The induction is at 11 a. m., followed by the consecration service at 12 noon.
A 5 p. m. banquet (paid event) will conclude the activities for the day.
“I don’t have the words to adequately express how I feel. You know the church is the bride of Christ and I feel just like the bride now,” she said of the elevation. “I have the jitters, there are expectations; I’m happy, elated,” are words she used to describe herself as the bride of Christ.
Being elevated to Bishop, she will become the first female to hold the office under the Legacy Fellowship of Churches and Ministries, Bishop Michael Lewis, Presiding Prelate. “I’m so happy to see more women accepting their calling
Bishop-Elect Patty openly answered her call to the ministry in 2004. It was the late Harold Jones (former funeral home director, Morning Glory Funeral Home), who told her that she could run, but she could not hide from God.
“I’ve always known that God had a calling on my life. But always being a part of traditional churches, there was always that stigma about women in the ministry, women in the pulpit,” she said. “When Mr. Jones told me that, I knew he was correct. I then enrolled in Blessed Hope Bible College under the late Bishop Elliott Johnson. He, too, was a blessing in my life.
“It’s been a tedious journey, but God has truly been good and shined on my life. He has prepared me for the journey. I went from the bench of do nothing, and had to learn to be a servant. I started being an usher,” she explained. “I’ve had some deacons and ministers to tell me I could not come into their pulpits, but nothing can stop the work of the Lord. God is no respect of person.”
As a Bishop in the Legacy Fellowship of Churches and Ministries, Bishop-Elect Patty will serve as an administrative assistant to Bishop Lewis, do some traveling on behalf of the ministry, get involved in community affairs for the ministry.
Bishop-Elect Patty and her son, Corey Felton started Krunk For Christ some years ago. After the Convocation, they plan to get that activity operating in full force. The event for youths and teens to showcase their talents, “is needed now more than ever. Our young people are just killing and hurting each other.”
A businesswoman with a personal referral service, Bishop-Elect Patty says it is a vision from God, and it’s the catalyst that keeps her ministry going. She is the wife of Jesse Patty and they are parents to 3 adult children and 6 grandchildren.
