Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate

Mary Magdalena Street Lewis Tate ("Mother Tate") (January 3, 1871 – December 28, 1930) was an African American evangelist. She was the first American woman to serve as a Bishop in a nationally recognized denomination. The church was the first Pentecostal Holiness church in America founded by a woman, at age nineteen, Mary Street married her first husband, David Lewis. They had two sons, Walter Curtis Lewis and Felix Earley Lewis. She is reported to have married and divorced twice more. but was moved in 1963 to Greenwood Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. three major branches were created under the leadership of various relatives of Mother Tate. These are currently known as the Keith Dominion, the Lewis Dominion, and the Jewell Dominion (previously the McLeod Dominion). At least seven denominations can trace their history back to Tate's establishment of Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth.

Teachings Tate was a strong exponent of women's leadership, who intentionally used generic language and mentored women for leadership positions. Hundreds of women served in The Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth as evangelists, ministers, and bishops.

Tate propounded an approach to living that emphasized "cleanness", as a principle underlying all aspects of life, including food, marriage, family life, and community activity. Her dogma of "The Cleanliness of the Word" was based on St. John 15:3.