Greenville pastor coaches from pulpit

GREENVILLE — The Rev. Jim Patterson isn't very good at retirement.

The Upstate native has retired twice, only to rejoin the work force at the first opportunity. The first retirement lasted all of 10 minutes.

After 31 years as a teacher, coach and administrator, Patterson retired as principal at Monaview Elementary School at noon on a Wednesday in 1992. Ten minutes later, he began working as pastor at Arrington Memorial United Methodist Church.

"It was time for something new," said Patterson, who began teaching and coaching in 1961. "My retirement worked out in a way that I had to be at Monaview until noon. I drove straight from the school to the church and started as pastor the same day."

For some, it might have seemed a dramatic career change. Not for Patterson, who said he felt the call of the ministry during his days as a Wofford College student but responded in a nontraditional way by delivering the message in the school environment rather than the church campus.

"I always considered teaching a part of my ministry," said Patterson.

Asked to contrast the role of principal to the role of pastor, he sees "very little difference."

"In both jobs," Patterson said, "you're working with people, solving problems and trying to give people hope."

Throughout the '60s, '70s and '80s, Patterson taught several subjects and coached several sports at several schools, including Greenville High School. He also found time to serve as a Scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts of America.

Along the way, he had earned a truckload of academic credentials — two master's degrees from the University of South Carolina and another from the University of Tennessee.

"I always enjoyed going to school. I wish I could figure out a way to make a living going to school," Patterson said half-jokingly. Patterson said he was not a good student at Boys High School in Anderson, nor in his early college career at Wofford, but his love of athletics and a desire to teach gave him a new sense of purpose in his later years at Wofford.

When he decided to leave the education field, Patterson felt the need for more education. In '93, he entered the Erskine Theological Seminary for three more years of schooling. At 54, he was among the older students but never seemed to mind.

Now 70, he finds his new career just as fulfilling as his first.

"I love to preach. I love to preach hope and love," said Patterson. "My job is to give people hope that there is going to be a better day and that God is going to take care of us. I believe that with all my heart."

Patterson retired again in 2005. But when asked to serve as a retired supply pastor at St. Paul, he jumped at the opportunity.

"It's a great ministry," Patterson said. "We have a great core of young adults."

Another personal history that has made an impact: He was raised by loving parents who battled problems with alcohol.

"I tried to hide it until about 20 years ago. Now I claim it. I see how it has made me a better person and has helped me deal with other things," Patterson said. "I feel very blessed."

Patterson tries to make that feeling apparent on a daily basis. "I close most every service with the same thought: 'Go preach the Gospel and use words if you have to,' " Patterson said.