Mother Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate: What She Left Behind Must Be Protected

Mother Mary Magdalena Tate, Founder and Chief Overseer

A tribute to Mother Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate, Founder and Chief Overseer of The Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, and a pioneering woman of faith whose courage, leadership, and vision continue to inspire generations.

Hi, I’m Shani, also known as Yaya, from You Are Your Attitude, and I want to honor the life and legacy of Mother Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate. I am writing to the whole body of the Inc., across every dominion, because what she left behind belongs to all of us to recognize, value, and protect.

Mother Tate was the founder and Chief Overseer of The Church of the Living God, the Pillar, and Ground of the Truth, and is remembered as a pioneering religious leader whose work helped shape Holiness and Pentecostal church history in America.

As I studied her life, her writings, and the legacy she left behind, one truth became clear to me: Mother Tate was a phenomenal woman. She built a ministry of faith, order, and endurance that continued to grow across generations, and her impact can still be felt today in families, churches, and communities.

She was a woman willing to go where others would not go, do what others would not do, and stand when others would not stand. She lived and led during some of the most difficult years in American history, including Jim Crow, World War I, and the Great Depression. Yet even in those conditions, she carried courage, conviction, and vision.

Before she was a founder, she was a daughter. Before she was a bishop, she was a wife. Before she was known across the country as Chief Overseer, she was a mother, a friend, an evangelist, and a woman with faith in God and a vision in her heart. She laughed, cried, loved, sacrificed, and dreamed. And through it all, she built something that would outlive her.

Today, many remember her as one of the pioneering women of the Pentecostal movement in America. But before she became a historical figure, she was a woman who believed ordinary people deserved dignity, respect, and a place to worship God.

She traveled when women were not expected to travel. She preached when women were not expected to preach. She led when women were not expected to lead. And because of her courage, generations found faith, community, purpose, and hope.

What she left behind was more than a name or a memory. She left structure, governance, protections, traditions, land, churches, schools, dormitories, assets, and a vision strong enough to endure beyond her lifetime. She left a legacy, and she left an inheritance.

Most of all, she left a mandate: Do right.

Do right by God. Do right by your fellow human being. Do right in spiritual things and temporal things. Do right when it is easy and do right when it is difficult. Do right when no one is watching.

As I have studied more than a century of records, one thing has become clear to me: regardless of our dominion, title, office, or generation, Mother Tate left the whole body of the Inc. an inheritance that cannot be measured in silver or gold.

She left us something to value, cover, and protect.

She sacrificed deeply so others could inherit what she built. That is why her legacy deserves more than admiration. It deserves honor, protection, and stewardship. The inheritance she left, including the assets that remain, must be guarded with care.

Honor it. Protect it. Carry it forward.