 Lucas Allen Tate Played By: George Clooney Birthdate & Age: June 12, 1961; 47 Screen name: Reverend Tate Biography: Born in the small town of Bulls Gap, TN, Lucas was the only child, mainly because his parents couldn't afford any more mouths to feed. Because of the limited opportunities in rural Tennessee, Lucas' father opted to volunteer for military service when Lucas was five years old. Two years later, in 1968, he was killed in Vietnam. Lucas' mother never remarried and took a cashiering job at a local grocery to supplement the survivors' benefits she received after her husband's death. Growing up with a working mother and without a father took a toll on Lucas as he entered adolescence. From around the age of 13, he began a period of acting out, culminating in narrowly escaping arrest after he and two other boys were caught joyriding when Lucas was 15. At the advice of the local sherriff, Lucas' mom sent her son to live with his uncle and aunt in nearby Rogersville, hoping that having a male figure in his life daily would help straighten him out. In addition, the uncle in question was a minister, so there were also high hopes that the fear of God could be instilled into the boy as well. The turnaround was remarkable. Not only did Lucas straighten up and toe the line, when he graduated from high school he announced that he planned to follow in his uncle's footsteps and become a minister. Despite his earlier trouble, he was a very bright young man and did exceedingly well at Vanderbilt University and later at Duke Divinity School. Once he'd achieved his Master of Divinity degree, Lucas returned to Rogersville to take over pastorship of his uncle's church now that the older man was ready to retire. Two years into his pastorship, the minister who preached the local Sunday night service on the radio passed away, and the local AM radio station approached Lucas about taking over the spot. Membership in Lucas' church had already been increasing, and the radio show resulted in even more growth in the congregation. It also put Lucas on the radar within the Southern Baptist Convention as a pastor to watch, and when a pastorship opened up at a church in Dallas, Texas, a church that also hosted a weekly local radio broadcast, Lucas was the top choice of the board of deacons for the position. Membership at the Dallas church had been declining in recent years, but once Lucas took over the pulpit, membership was on the rise once more. This success was noted by the owners of a local Christian television station, and a year after Lucas began his new pastorship, he was approached with the possibility of doing a local television broadcast as well. It was the television broadcast that really put Lucas on the map, as Jerry Falwell caught a broadcast while visiting Dallas and was impressed with the young minister. When one of Falwell's colleagues, the pastor of a large church in Leesburg, Virginia, whose sermon was televised locally each week, decided to retire, Falwell suggested Lucas as a replacement. His growing reputation also had national media watching him closely as well, and in 1996 the Trinity Broadcasting Network added his weekly services to their lineup.
The association with Falwell had personal as well as professional impact on Lucas' life, since it was Falwell who introduced him to Rachel Wilson [name may be changed if/when someone fills the line], a Leesburg native and well-known Christian recording artist. After two years of dating, the two were married in 1997. Now well-established as a successful minister and with a new wife, Lucas decided the time was ripe to found a church of his own, and with his burgeoning association with TBN, he was able to do just that. The new church was opened in Los Angeles, and the weekly broadcast was featured prominently in TBN's lineup. Since its opening, it has become one of the largest churches in the LA area, and millions of viewers watch the broadcast on TBN weekly. |