Bebe Patten

Media appearances Patten revival was broadcast on KLS (AM) starting in January, 1944. In 1947, Patten College was broadcast on KWBR (AM); KLS call letters changed to KWBR in 1945. KWBR also broadcast Patten Revival in 1947.

The Shepherd Hour, a daily 30-minute radio program was broadcast from 1951 to 1987. Her telecast, The Bebe Patten Hour, aired from 1976 to the 2004, and her periodical The Trumpet Call was published from 1952 to 2004.

Jewish community work

Patten was an outspoken supporter of Israel. Beginning in 1962 she took her church congregation and students of Patten University on more than 25 trips to Israel. In 1975, she was named Christian Honoree of the Year by the San Francisco chapter of the Jewish National Fund, and she received several honors and awards from Israel, including the State of Israel Medallion in 1969.

She interviewed Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in 1972 and later Prime Minister Menachem Begin. She also had audiences with Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, and Ariel Sharon.

In 1975 and 1977, Patten University planted two forests of 10,000 trees in the Negev region of Israel. In 1981, Bar-Ilan University honored her with the Bebe Patten Chair of Social Action and appointed her a member of the university’s international board in 1991.

Racial and social issues

Patten was also known for promoting racial equality in all the institutions she founded. Patten University was recognized as a “model of diversity,” but her influence began much earlier.

During the mid-1930s and 1940s two of her revivals burned her revivalist tent to the ground after she preached against racism, segregation and social injustices that took place in the South.

She attended the funeral of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and personally offered her condolences to Coretta Scott King, his widow.

Death and legacy

Patten died at 90 years of age on January 25, 2004, after a long illness.

Patten’s second husband, C. Thomas Patten, died in 1958, and two of her children predeceased her, Thomas Patten Jr. in 1989 and Priscilla Benham in 2000. She was survived by her daughter Rebecca Skaggs and one grandchild, Charmaine Benham.

Her biography, Winning the Race: Dr. Bebe Patten, Her Life and Ministry, written by Glenn Kunkel, was released in 2000. At the time of publication, Kunkel was described as a "50-year follower of Dr. Patten's ministries and professor of English emeritus of Patten College".

A second biography, No Room For Doubt: The Life and Ministry of Bebe Patten, written by Dr. Abraham Ruelas, was published by Seymour Press in 2012. In 2012, Ruelas was on the faculty of Patten University.