Edith Mae
Pennington, the founder of The Plant of
Renown, Inc., daughter of
Arch and Julia
Patterson, was born
June 9, 1902, in Pine Bluff,
Arkansas.
She spent the early part of
her life in Pine Bluff,
Arkansas; went to Rice
University in Houston, Texas
and returned to Pine Bluff,
Arkansas to become a school
teacher.
In 1921 The St. Louis
Globe-Democrat, a leading
newspaper in St. Louis,
Missouri, conducted a
national beauty
contest. This was a
contest that was conducted
one year before the
"Miss America"
contest was established. Miss
Patterson's aunt, without her
knowledge, entered a picture
of her as a contestant.
Seventy five
photographs were received and
viewed by selected
judges: two famous
artists, and a nationally
known woman sculptress.
The seventy-five were divided
into districts: Missouri,
Illinois, City of St. Louis
and the United States.
From this group she was
chosen the "Grand
Capital Prize Winner".
Three prizes were awarded to
each district. The
first prize was $1000.00; the
second prize $500.00 and the
third $100.00. There
was also a Grand Capital
Prize Winner, who was to
receive an additional
$2500.00 with the
accompanying title, "The
Most Beautiful Girl in the
United States", which
Miss Patterson won also.
Miss Patterson received a
great volume of mail.
Sums of money were offered to
her to travel and make
personal appearances, in
theaters, at public
gatherings, christenings,
also receiving motion picture
bids, etc. She made
personal appearances in
theaters as "an added
attraction", having an
act of her own. She
visited one hundred one
theaters in the period of one
year.
The social world lavished
riches, honor, sensational
applause, flattery; elite
society welcomed her and she
had much publicity.
Mayors presented her with
keys to their cities.
She was the guest of various
clubs such as Rotary,
Kiwanis, Lions, etc.
She was often made an
honorary member and was
entertained royally.
She modeled street apparel,
evening gowns and furs.
Instead of being happy and
satisfied with all of this
attention she was receiving,
instead, extremely
disappointed. She
became restless and tired of
the fanfare and adulation,
the bright lights of the
stage and made a
change. She decided to
go to Los Angeles and
Hollywood to make a career of
the screen.
In the company of her mother,
her constant companion, she
was received graciously in
Hollywood. Her mother
had trained her from
childhood to keep her ideals
high, her character
untarnished and her
reputation
spotless. In
Hollywood she found that many
actresses lived stranger
lives than the roles they
portrayed on the
screen. She was
horrified by the obvious
immorality on every
side. To add to this
disillusionment, she had
several narrow escapes from
those who planned her
downfall. The presence
of her mother saved her from
this calamity.
She finally came to the
conclusion that an existence
of luxury and momentary
glamor was not what she
really wanted from
life. She wanted
reality, something more
tangible, more stable, more
satisfying and enduring.
At this point God began to
deal definitely with her
heart. He saw the
intense longing in her soul
and her need for Him in her
life. He allowed the
desire to increase and a
hunger and thirst for him to
grow deeper and
stronger. All desire
for the stage and screen
left, and she began to read
her Bible and earnestly seek
God for guidance and
direction. There came a
parting of the ways.
One road led to a career with
fame and fortune, but there
was sin, worldly pleasures,
and a lost soul at the
end. The other revealed
the Cross of Jesus Christ, as
Savior.
Even though the Casting
Director called repeatedly on
the telephone, and sent many
enticing letters requesting
her presence to be cast in
another picture, she held to
her decision to forsake
Hollywood and stardom.
She was married in 1924 to
her Business Manager, Jesse
Battle Pennington.
At a Pentecostal Holiness
Church in Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma in 1925, she made a
surrender of her life to
God. She often
expressed this as an exchange
from the glamour of the world
for the glory of the
Cross. At that time she
pledged her irrevocable word
to Christ to forsake all and
follow Him.
After her conversion, she
received the Baptism of the
Holy Spirit, with the
evidence of speaking in other
tongues and received a call
to preach the gospel.
Her message was "Jesus
Christ and Him
Crucified".
On November 23, 1927, her
daughter, Edith Lorraine
Pennington, was born.
Mrs. Pennington was licensed
and ordained by the
Assemblies of God
denomination in 1929, and
spent seven years on the
evangelistic field both in
the United States and in
Canada. She came
to Shreveport, La., in 1936
to hold a tent revival.
She came back to Shreveport
in 1937 for another revival,
felt that God was leading her
to establish a church, and
became a Pastor.
The Full Gospel Tabernacle
was established in
1937. In 1943 the
name was changed to The Full
Gospel Temple.
Services were held in several
rental locations including
private homes, a refurbished
garage building on the corner
of Cotten and Edwards Street
in downtown Shreveport, in an
office building at 3218 Line
Avenue, the council chambers
of the City of Shreveport,
until four acres of property
was purchased in 1945 at the
corner of Line Avenue and
Pierremont Road. A
church building was built at
this location and additional
properties were
purchased. Rev.
Pennington pastored the
church at this location until
her death, May 16, 1974.
Rev. Pennington remained with
the Assemblies of God until
February 7, 1950 when God led
her to form a new
organization, "The Plant of
Renown".
This was an
interdenominational
organization with a
"vision" for
world-wide revival in the
last days.
Quote from Rev. Pennington:
"I fully agree with
Moses, the peerless
adventurer of old, who stated
that he had rather suffer
with the ignoble slaves of
his own race than to live a
luxurious life in an Egyptian
paradise. Therefore, I
forsook the unimaginable
spell of Hollywood sensation
to walk, live, and preach to
the meek of the earth".
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