J. David Tate, DMin

J. David Tate is the founder and director of Truett Seminary’s Online Certificate Program, the premier non-academic theological educational option for lay people, church leaders, and bi-vocational ministers. He joined the Truett staff in 2015 after serving as executive director of the SONlight Foundation. 

David earned his BA from Houston Baptist University in Business and Speech Communications. He completed his MDiv at Truett Seminary, where he was a CBF Leadership Scholar and received the Robert Jackson Robinson Preaching Award. He also has a Doctorate of Ministry from Truett Seminary, where he was an Ellis Scholar in Preaching, and his dissertation project was entitled Spiritual Direction as a Guide for Formation and Community Among Online Ministry Students.

He is also the bi-vocational Senior Pastor of Chalk Bluff Baptist Church in Waco, TX, and has 8 years of experience in information technology, 10 years in non-profit ministry, as well as 16 years of business ownership. He enjoys traveling around the state and participating in Texas Baptist life, as well as disc golf, board games, and home renovation. 

David and his wife, Lydia, have three adult sons whom they affectionately refer to as “The Trilogy.”