Carl S. (Carl Safford) Patton

Born in Greenville, Michigan, in 1866, Carl Safford Patton was an American Congregational minister and author whose career joined church leadership, teaching, and publishing. Records connected with his books and biographical listings show that he studied at Oberlin College and Andover Theological Seminary, and that he wrote across several parts of religious life, from biblical scholarship to practical preaching.

Patton served important pulpits and was associated with the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, where his ministry was significant enough to be remembered in later architectural and church-history references. He also taught homiletics at the Pacific School of Religion, reflecting the strong emphasis his work placed on preaching and communication.

As a writer, he appears in library catalogs with a wide range of titles, including Sources of the Synoptic Gospels, The Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, Religion in the Thought of Today, and Two Minute Stories. Taken together, these works suggest an author interested not only in theology and biblical interpretation, but also in making religious ideas clear, useful, and approachable for ordinary readers.