Bishop Patterson died Tuesday afternoon of heart failure at Methodist University Hospital. He was 67.

From his humble birth in a tiny West Tennessee town (Humboldt), Bishop G.E. Patterson rose to international prominence as the media-savvy and charismatic leader of the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination.

As Presiding Bishop and chief apostle of the Church of God in Christ, Bishop Patterson over saw a global media empire that included television, radio, Internet and publishing divisions and he was instrumental in swelling the denomination’s ranks to more than 6.5 million members in 58 countries.

Gilbert Earl Patterson was born Sept. 22, 1939 to Bishop W. A. and Mrs. Mary Patterson in Humboldt, Tenn. He grew up in Memphis before moving to Detroit with his family in 1952.