F. D. Washington

Bishop Frederick Douglas Washington (January 1, 1914 - January 12, 1988) was a renowned Pentecostal minister of the Washington Temple Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in Brooklyn, New York. His most famous protege is Rev. Al Sharpton, whom he licensed and ordained as a minister at the age of nine.

Named for famed civil rights leader Frederick Douglass, the future minister was born Frederick Douglas Washington on January 1, 1913 in Arkansas. He later served as a pastor for a church in Montclair, New Jersey. With his wife, Madame Ernestine Beatrice Washington, who was called "The Songbird of the East," Washington moved to Brooklyn New York to set up a tent at 966 Fulton street. This ministry was known as "The Sawdust Trail".

From there his ministry grew until he was able to purchase the old Loew's Theatre that stood at 1372 Bedford Avenue. Eventually, Washington Temple COGIC, with about 3,000 members, became one of the largest congregations of any denomination located in Brooklyn, NY. Washington served as assistant Jurisdictional Prelate to the late Bishop O. M. Kelly before finally succeeding him in 1983. He also served on the General Board of the Church Of God In Christ as Second Assistant to Bishop J.O. Patterson, Sr.

In addition to his early work with Sharpton, Washington also served as a mentor and spiritual father to many COGIC pastors. Included among these are Bishop Norman L. Prescott, the prelate of New Jersey's Third Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and pastor of Washington's former Montclair church; Superintindent Robert L. Madison of Washington Temple; Elder TJ Williams Jr. of First COGIC of Bridgehampton, NY; Rev. Timothy Wright, world famous gospel singer, Elder Stanley Williams of Grace Temple COGIC in Westbury, NY; Elder Odolph Wright of City Of Faith COGIC (New York and Georgia and Elder Michael Collymore (North Carolina). Washington also introduced Sharpton to Reverend William Augustus Jones Jr., who converted Sharpton to his current Baptist faith.

Washington died in January 1988. He was succeeded as Prelate by Bishop Ithiel Clemmons and as pastor by Elder Robert L. Madison.