John Barstow Paterson

Background

John Paterson was born on November 22, 1932, in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. He was a son of Arthur Elliott and Harriet (Barstow) Paterson.

Education

John Paterson studied at Swarthmore College where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1953. Later he entered Union Theological Seminary and received a Master of Divinity degree there in 1956. In 1964 he earned his Master of Theology degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. Paterson also studied at Lancaster Theological Seminary and received a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1981.

Career

John Paterson started his career as an associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church of East Aurora in 1956 and held this post until 1961. Then he worked as a pastor at Presbyterian church in Tonawanda from 1961 to 1963. In 1963 he took up a post of an Assistant pastor at Presbyterian Church in Princeton. He left this post in 1966 and became a pastor at Takoma Park Presbyterian Church.

In 1979, Paterson left Takoma Park Presbyterian Church and became a pastor at Presbyterian Church in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. He left this post in 1986 and started to work at First Presbyterian Church of Barre. After retirement in 1996, he served as an interim pastor for a number of Vermont congregations.

John Paterson published his first book Consider the Lilies: Plants of the Bible in 1986. He also wrote such books as Images of God that was published in 1998 and Blueberries for the Queen, published in 2004. He was also an accomplished multi-media artist and an active and generous supporter of the artistic community, particularly in the Barre-Montpelier region.

Achievements

• John Paterson was an American pastor and writer who was famous for his books for children. His most famous books are Consider the Lilies: Plants of the Bible and Images of God.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Consider the Lilies: Plants of the Bible

    (An exploration of the symbolic significance of the numero...)

    1986
  • Blueberries for the Queen

    (In 1942 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, living in ex...)

    2004
  • Images of God

    (The authors of Consider the Lilies: Plants of the Bible d...)

    1998

Connections

John Paterson married on Katherine Womeldorf on July 14, 1962. The marriage produced four children.

Father:

Arthur Elliott Paterson

Mother:

Harriet Barstow

Wife:

Katherine Womeldorf Paterson

Daughter:

Elizabeth Polin Pierce

Son:

John Barstow Jr.

Son:

David Lord

Daughter:

Mary Katherine Nah-he-sah-pe-che-a