By ANN TATE
Special to the Journal

On Sunday, March 22, 2015, South Luverne Baptist Church extended a call to Dr. Sam Tate to serve as pastor of South Luverne Baptist Church.

He accepted the call and will begin his ministry at South Luverne on Wed., April 15, 2015. Tate is the church’s third pastor in its 30-year history.

One of eight children, Tate grew up in Georgia where he accepted Christ as his Savior at the age of 17. He surrendered to God’s call into the ministry in 1977.

He and his wife of 39 years, Laura, have two married children and four grandchildren.

He has a bachelor of arts degree in biblical studies from The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville, Fla.

He has a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and he holds a doctor of ministry degree in Expository Preaching from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

Sam and Laura Tate have expressed great excitement about their move to Luverne and answering God’s call to become pastor of South Luverne Baptist Church.

“It’s a wonderful church with a rich past and a bright future,” says the new pastor. “We are looking forward to becoming part of the Luverne community as we seek to share the love of Christ and his promise of a wonderful future. I love the way God says it in Jeremiah 29:11, ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.’”

The church adopted Proverbs 3:5-6 as guiding verses of scripture in the search for its new pastor. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

The search motto was “Trusting God for HIS Man, In HIS Time Span, According to HIS Plan.”

The guiding verses and motto were repeated often and were published in weekly bulletins and posted throughout the church during the nine-month pastor search process.

Don Yancey, who serves South Luverne as interim pastor had this to say about the new pastor…”I believe Dr. Sam Tate is God’s man for South Luverne at this time and for the challenges ahead. We look forward to Dr. Tate’s leadership as we continue to seek the will of God, to impact our world for Christ, and to faithfully carry out the Great Commission.”