We extend our condolences to the family of Pat Folk, who died on Monday at the age of 86.
Pat will always hold a special place in the history of Green Bay Community Church. Pat and her late husband, Tony, were two of the original founders of GBCC in 1968. The couple was among a group of 33 people who met in the basement of a home near Lambeau Field to hold GBCC’s first service on Nov. 24, 1968.
During an interview in 2018 Pat talked about the early history of GBCC.
“It was the closest fellowship I had ever known,” she said. “Starting a new church together, preaching the gospel and having people come in. It was a family situation built together to spread the gospel to Green Bay.
“We had such precious relationships. They were precious to me because we were involved together in promoting the story of the Lord.”
Pat said the formation of GBCC was God inspired.
"God’s provision was just amazing,” she said. "He brought in different people from different areas, from different churches. Only He could do that. His provision in providing exactly what we needed … It was just amazing to watch him at work.”
“Nobody was from here. All these different people from all different generations. That’s crazy. God gets the glory for everything.”
Pat said one of the reasons GBCC was formed was because there was a group of Christ followers including her family that wanted something different than what the legalistic churches in the area had to offer.
“There were just too many regulations,” Pat said. “You have to do this, and do that, don’t smoke or chew. Even though we didn’t smoke or chew, or play cards, it was looked down on because you did. I thought, ‘We don’t want that. We want freedom in the Lord.’”
Pat and Tony Folk compiled an early history of GBCC: https://c36f016dfc7eb005c70c-dd072abd8425ea986d8c0ee1f4b15a36.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/uploaded/g/0e7480912_1529602042_gbcc-history-pat-folk.pdf
Read more about Pat’s life in her obituary: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/greenbaypressgazette/obituary.aspx?n=patricia-folk&pid=191268423&fhid=14028
