Patten became a national evangelist, arrived in Oakland, California, in 1944 and began an evangelistic crusade there. The meetings continued nightly for nineteen weeks, in which as many as 5,000 people a night attended in the Oakland Auditorium Arena. This crusade led in 1944 to the founding of the Oakland Bible Institute (now Patten University) and the Academy of Christian Education high school (now Patten Academy of Christian Education: K-12), Christian Temple (now Christian Cathedral), and the Oakland Bible Church (now Christian Evangelical Churches of America, Inc.) C. Thomas Patten would spend 3 year in San Quentin for stealing money from his congregation. He later died in a rehabilitation hospital from his addiction to morphine.