Patricia Gould-Champ

Nineteen years ago, the Rev. Dr. Patricia A. Gould-Champ founded Faith Community Baptist Church, where she is senior pastor of a congregation of more than 325 people in Richmond’s Fairfield, Whitcomb and Creighton Court communities. For over two decades, she has been an assistant professor of practical theology at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University and is executive director of C.I.D. (Community in Development), conducting HIV/AIDS education in local churches, correctional facilities and RRHA communities.

SHARING HER PERSONAL STORY: It was published this year in her book, The Gospel According to Cancer. In November 2003, Gould-Champ was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer and throughout her journey kept a journal that later became church sermons and finally this book. “Over and over,” she writes, “people shared how the meditations had touched them emotionally, inspired them not to give up and encouraged them to walk by faith and not by sight.”

HOW SHE SUPPORTS THE COMMUNITY: As a seven-year cancer survivor, Gould-Champ, 68, is also a part of the Sisters Network of Virginia, sharing her story over and over to make women aware of the need for mammograms and self-examination. As a caregiver to a mother with end-stage dementia, she is a member of the Alzheimer’s Association. And she’s developed a women’s empowerment group called R.I.S.E. (Respect, Integrity, Success and Empowerment).

CURRENT PROJECTS: “I am currently working on my third book, Without a Blueprint: Reflections for Women Ministers. I hope to share some reflections that will help female ministers navigate the sometimes-rugged waters of ministry in the church. I am also interested in writing another children’s book: Pamela Gets Baptized, a follow-up to my book, Pamela Goes to Church.”

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW: Gould-Champ is an avid card player, a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan and a proud member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority-Upsilon Omega Chapter, Richmond.