Bishop Patrick Wooden Sr.

---

Hear his sermons live from the Upper Room Church located in Raleigh, NC. His involvement in societal issues, such as fighting for the rights of the unborn, fighting against the homosexual agenda, protecting traditional marriage and the Keeping Christ in Christmas Campaign, has flooded him into mainstream media. He has been featured on various new outlets such as CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, the O’Reilly Factor and a host of local, national and international radio stations and now on WQTS Digital Radio.

Bishop Patrick Lane Wooden, Sr. has been saved and serving the Lord for more than 40 years. He has been in the pastoral ministry for 35 years. He accepted Christ at the age of 16 and his life has been an example of what God can do when you give Him your whole heart at an early age. He attributes his success to God’s grace, mercy, and unmerited favor. He resides in Raleigh, NC with his wife of thirty-seven years, Pamela McNeil Wooden. They have two adult children, a son-in-law and three grandchildren!

In 1982, Minister Wooden was sent by his pastor, Sup't. James H. Turner, to start a work in the rural town of Candor, North Carolina. He began with a 6-week tent revival in the area. At the conclusion of the revival, he asked if any were interested in standing with him to start a church and 29 people stood to be part of the church that he later named The Lighthouse Church of God in Christ. Many of those who joined were saved during the tent revival. Bishop Wooden pastored in Candor for 9 years and built his first church there in 1983. The experience there was indeed training ground to prepare him and his wife for what the Lord had in store for them in the years to come.

In 1987, after the death of his pastor, Sup't. James H. Turner, Bishop Wooden was called and appointed to pastor the Upper Room Church of God in Christ. At the time of his appointment, the church had approximately 150 members. The church was still mourning the death of their pastor and some were unsure of the capabilities of “this young preacher from Rockingham." As a result, some left, but many decided to stay and give him a chance. To date, Bishop Wooden has been the pastor of The Upper Room for more than 30 years. The membership now exceeds 3000 and is steadily growing. He is a builder of strong men which attributes to approximately 40% his congregation being male. Under his leadership, in 1992, they built the first COGIC sanctuary in Raleigh and in 1998, they built their current sanctuary, a 2,000 seat edifice. In addition, many new ministries and auxiliaries have been established to serve and meet the needs of the congregants and the sick, suffering and lost souls throughout the city and surrounding areas.

Early in the ministry, the Lord commissioned Bishop Wooden to build a Christian school where children could receive a high-quality education in an environment that would be safe and conducive to learning, yet free of the world’s humanistic ideologies. They would be taught to know the God of the Bible and the Glory of His Son, Jesus Christ. That vision became a reality in August of 2001, which marked the completion of the James H. Turner Educational Facility, a 66,000 square foot school. The Upper Room Christian Academy is on the 16-acre campus of the Upper Room COGIC.It has several spacious classrooms, a media center, a science lab and a state-of-the-art computer lab that is used for technological training and advancement. It also has a fully equipped, NBA regulated gymnasium and a spacious cafeteria with a commercial kitchen. To top it all off, great investments have been made to find and hire highly qualified faculty, staff, and administration. This Christ-centered place of excellence provides a full range of educational and extracurricular activities incorporated with the teaching of Biblical principles. The school served on average more than 500 children and youth annually. Initially, URCA served preschoolers age 2 through 6 years; eventually expanding to serve kindergarten through high school. Recently, in 2016, the decision was made to only serve preschool ages. Many of the children served are living out the mission and vision of the school by excelling biblically, academically and socially.

Over the years, the church and school has provided employment for approximately 75 people on a full-time basis and 15 part-time. He is one of the largest African-American employers in Raleigh and has many affiliations with business and civic leaders in the city. He had earned a reputation for being a man of God who does business fairly and ethically.