Winner: Bishop G. E. Patterson

When Bishop G. E. Patterson, the presiding bishop of the 6 million-strong Church of God In Christ, passed away this spring, more than 14,000 mourners filed past his casket to pay their respects. And at his standing-room only funeral at the Temple of Deliverance Church of God In Christ, the church Patterson led since its founding in 1971, the mourners included Jesse Jackson, Julian Bond, and former president Bill Clinton.

They were all there to honor a man who not only presided over the explosive growth of his Pentecostal denomination but personally spread the message to millions through words and deeds.

Finalists: Rev. Sandy Willson (Second Presbyterian Church), Rev. Adrian Rogers (Bellevue Baptist Church)