MOTHER MARY MAGDALENA L. TATE
Founder and Chief Overseer
1871-1930

Mother Mary Magdalena L. Tate was born on January 3, 1871. During her youth, she was called “Miss Do Right” because of her character and demeanor. Mary Tate’s followers were known as “The Do Righters.” She became known by many of her faithful followers as Mother Tate.

Mother Tate traveled from Tennessee to Kentucky as directed by the power of God and set out to Brooklyn, Illinois, to begin preaching. As she preached her first sermon, men, women, and children were stirred by the power of God and demonstration of the Holy Spirit in her sermons. She was led to go to Paris, Tennessee, by the spirit of God, where she boldly preached the Gospel in cleanliness of the word of God and of things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. Many persons were amazed and wondered at the demonstration of the Gospel which was preached by this blessed servant of God.

In 1903, this unique black woman, along with her two sons, Walter Curtis and Felix Early Lewis, founded and established in The House of God, Which is the Church of the Living God. the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Without Controversy (I Timothy 3:15-16). (Cited hereafter as House of God.)

In 1907, Mother Mary Magdalena climaxed a career as a world’s Evangelist of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In Alabama, over 900 persons were converted to Christianity through her preaching. She boldly went into the water and baptized many of the converts through the physical strength given her of the Lord’s power.

Mother Tate was baptized with the Holy Spirit in 1908. She sprang leaping and shouting up from a bed of affliction where she had lain there for some time. She began to speak in unknown and other tongues as the Spirit of God gave utterance and was healed from her affliction. She began to teach the people to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire.

Mother Tate organized and presided over the First General Assembly of the House of God June 25-July 5, 1908, in Greenville, Alabama. At this meeting, she was approved and accepted as the Chief Apostle Elder, President, and first Chief Overseer of the formally organized church in Greenville, Alabama. Additionally, she was ordained to the Bishopric by the Board of Trustees and Bishops of the House of God.

In 1910, Mother Tate began to evangelize and establish the Church in the state of Georgia. During the following year, she organized and presided over the first Georgia State Assembly where she appointed the first presiding elder.