Meet the Staff.
Dr. Eli Patterson PhD
Founder & Senior Pastor
Dr. Eli Patterson is from a family of born again Pentecostal leaders extending from (St Andrew), Jamaica to (Birmingham), United Kingdom. Dr. Patterson yielded the call of the Lord on his life at a pivotal age, while he was in secondary school in Jamaica. With this heavenly calling Dr. Patterson remained committed to the work of the lord both in the local and national church body. In the fullness of time, God sees it fit to pour out His Holy Spirit in the thirsty heart of his servant. Dr. Patterson continued to study the word of God under the leadership of Pastor Ivan Creary and Pastor Mervin Mcwilliams at Full Truth Tabernacle, Jamaica where he excelled spiritually. The calling of the Lord was evident in his life which resulted in a call by God to the office of a minister. Over the many years of church ministry and discipleship, Dr. Patterson has served the body of Christ as a Sunday School teacher, Youth leader, community organizer, musician, public speaker and christian counselor all over the world. In 2003, God provided a help meet, in the form of his wonderful wife Sis Tanya Patterson (High school teacher) and the union produced two wonderful boys Eltan and Johnathan.
In 2009 while Dr. Patterson was in Canada, he got a visitation from the lord with specific instruction concerning the establishment of a church to meet the spiritual needs of His people. This vision was materialized early 2019 with the birth of Gilgal Faith Ministries in the family living room. In the beginning the church comprised only the Patterson’s family (4). However, shortly after the lord inspired Dr. Patterson to launch out in order to reach more souls and fulfill the calling of the Lord. The first Sunday, Gilgal Faith Ministries (GFM) was blessed to occupy the second floor of the Southend community Center/YMCA with 16 souls joining for worship and fellowship . Over the course of two months the lord was faithful to His words and added souls from as far as Hartford, Stamford, Derby and surrounding areas to worship and fellowship in holiness. Two months of being at our new location, through the power of God’s word, three souls were baptized in the name of Jesus at the YMCA pool. God is true to His words.
In addition to his work in the ministry, Dr. Patterson is a trained Biological and Environmental scientist. Dr. Patterson studied for his undergraduate studies both in Jamaica and the United States of America and his Doctorate degree (Ph.D) at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Patterson has written and published scholarly papers in international scientific journals used in academia worldwide. In addition, Dr. Patterson is an Entrepreneur, who also worked as a Teacher, Professor, Demonstrator, Engineer, consultant in a number private and public sector organizations. Dr. Patterson is an expert in the field of Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity, Biological modelling, Statistics, and Ecological Entomology. Even though Dr. Patterson has achieved the highest level of his academic profession, he remained humble and focused on the work of the lord.
Dr. Patterson continued to serve as the Senior Pastor at Gilgal Faith Ministries at 605 Park Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06604, where everyone is loved and cared for wholeheartedly. Dr. Patterson is committed to effect change through communities, states and the world through the word of God, and community development. Through the grace of God, Dr. Patterson pledged to remain steadfast to the calling of God upon his life to reach the world with the good news of the cross. Dr. Patterson is passionate about reaching souls, especially the youths for the Kingdom of God. He believes in nurturing individuals to reach their God given potentials. Dr. Patterson always believes for himself and others that: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phillipians 4:13).
Sister Tanya Patterson
Secretary
Sis Patterson is a very keen Sunday school teacher for over 10 years.
