ABOUT
Rev. Dr. Patricia Smith Wallace
Presiding Elder of The West Coast Conference
Trending Tremendous Tampa District
Rev. Dr. Patricia S. Wallace was born Patricia Smith, on February 18, 1954, the seventh of eight children born to Mr. Isaac and Mrs. Ardena Lowman Smith, who are resting from their labor.
Married to Mr. Frank Dewitt Wallace, for 42 years, she is the mother of five beautiful children. Although two preceded her in death, Precious Jerese Thompson, and Jonathan Dewayne Wallace, there are still five in number, Eric Jermaine Thompson, Joni Shenell Wallace, Jeremy Franklin Wallace, Trevor Wallace and Sharnee Bunn.
Rev. Wallace was educated in the school system of Palm Beach County where she received her elementary and middle school education from East Lake High School and graduated in the class of 1971 from Pahokee High School.
After studying at Allen University in Columbia, SC, and Palm Beach Community College in Belle Glade, FL, Rev. Wallace obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Edward Waters College, in Jacksonville, FL (through the Climb Program Satellite at Harvest AME Church). She received her Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary. and her Doctors In Ministry from South University School of Theology, Savannah, Ga.
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The church family would purchase a sanctuary and liquidate the mortgage in four years. Bishop Cummings dedicated and laid the corner stone for the sanctuary. Bishop John Hurst Adams burned the Mortgage. The church has been blessed with growth spiritually, numerically and financially for the past 21 years.
Rev. Wallace’s work for the betterment of mankind has earned her many awards and honors, among which are the House of Representative of State Florida Community Service Resolution, Palm Beach Women Chamber of Commerce Giraffe Award, and recognitions by Greek letter organizations Alpha Kappa Alpha and Zeta Phi Beta for community service (but she is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.).
She is a mentor for the Children's Home Society and she served as former Chaplain of the Pahokee Police Department and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, where she was employed for 24.5 years as dispatcher and supervisor of Data Entry Support.
A lover of People, Ministry and the Savior, Rev. Wallace retired so she could commit to the ministry of the church. While serving as Pastor of Harvest AME, Pahokee, FL, she was appointed South Conference Finance Chair for the Noble North District, South Conference Women in Ministry Coordinator, South Conference Stewardship Committee, Vice Chair of the South Conference Board of Trustees and the President of the Leadership Team of Edward Waters College ( University).
On March 15, 2018, at the site of the 2018 AME Mid-Year Conference in Orlando, Florida, Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson made a historical move when he appointed Rev. Wallace to be the first female Pastor in 128 years to be assigned to a second Church in the South Conference, and the first female to become the pastor of St. Paul AME Church, Ft. Pierce in their 128 year history. In two and a half years, a mortgage of over $250,000.00 was liquidated on a parsonage and more than $300,000.00 in renovations to the Sanctuary under her administration.
On November 20, 2020 at the seat of the 11th Episcopal District Planning meeting, which was held virtually, Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson would make history once again. He would assigned for the first time in the 130 year history of the South Annual Conference a female is selected to become a Presiding Elder. Dr. Wallace was transferred from the South to the West Coast Conference as the new Presiding Elder of The Sizzling St. Petersburg District. Elder Wallace is the second female in the history of the St. Petersburg District to serve as Presiding Elder.
On November 19, 2021 in Orlando, Fl. Bishop Frank Madison Reid III., would make another First and historical move in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, when he assigned Dr. Wallace as the First Female to be assigned as a Presiding Elder to the Tampa District which is now know as The Trending Tremendous Tampa District in the 81 years of The West Coast Annual Conference.
