Rev. Samuel C. Tolbert, Jr.

Rev. Tolbert represents the 7th Congressional District. His term of service expires on December 31, 2022. Rev. Tolbert has been pastor of the Greater Saint Mary Missionary Baptist Church in Lake Charles, LA for more than 30 years.  He is also President of the National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc., which is the second largest African-American Christian body in the United States.

He is a graduate of Bishop College in Dallas, Texas having earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion and philosophy with a minor in speech education and he earned a Master of Divinity degree from Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Union Baptist College and Theological Seminary in New Orleans, LA.  Rev. Tolbert completed the Doctorate in Ministry (D.Min) degree in expository preaching in May 2017 at the Stephen Olford Center at Union University in Memphis, Tennessee.  His dissertation was entitled Equipping African American Men to do Missions Through the Greater St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church of Lake Charles, Louisiana.