 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