Staff

Matt Cate has been the Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Minden, LA for the last three years.  During that time the church has grown and called several new ministers to join in serving the Lord at EBC. Prior to being called here, he served as the Associate Pastor at Bellaire Baptist Church, in Bossier City, for seven years.  That is where the Lord blessed greatly and saw the church grow from 250-1200 during that time.  Over 1000 people came to know the Lord and were baptized. Matt and his wife, of 9 years, Whitney have three children: two boys, Dylan 6 and Drew 4 and the newest addition baby Allison.  Matt received his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Chemistry from LSU and received his Masters degree from Southwester Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth.  He is currently working on his Doctorate in Ministry from Luther Rice Seminary. Matt’s desire is to communicate the grace and forgiveness of Christ to families that need a real life changing touch from the Lord.

Ally Freeman is our children's director at Emmanuel. She is a Shreveport native and graduated from LSU-Shreveport with a Bachelors in Psychology in December 2006. Before joining our staff at Emmanuel, in May 2006, she had served on the children's ministy staff at Bellaire Baptist Church in Bossier City. Ally has always loved working with children and started volunteering in high school. It wasn't until her senior year of high school that she understood that God was calling her to the ministry. She has the ability to incorporate the whole family into children's ministry, reaching out to our community through different ministries like Fall Festival, Easter Eggstravaganza, Kidz Choir, AWANA Clubs, VBS, and Children's Camps. Ally is a newlywed, her husband Buddy is also from Shreveport. When Buddy's not teaching Ally how to golf they enjoy spending time with the families in our Preschool & Children's ministry. Ally brings a passion and excitement for Christ that is contagious and we are excited to have her on our team.

David LaMay Jr. ,from Jonesboro Louisiana, becamse a part of Emmanuel Baptist Church in the winter of 2006 as our full time student minister. Between summer events he found time in June to marry his best friend Christina, a Haughton girl. David, a student at Louisiana Tech, is pursuing his Bachelor in agrigulture education which he plans on using overseas. He has a true heart for the outcasts and a mission mindset. David is passionate about encouraging teenagers in the way of Jesus and helping them to discover what it means for their life right now.

Daniel Nelson is our Music Minister.  He has lead worship in several churches in the Shreveport/ Bossier area and is gifted in blending your favorite classical songs of the faith with some new favorites that you enjoy on the radio.  Daniel has many avenues through which you can use your musical talents to serve God. Two such avenues are the worship band and choir. Daniel graduated from East Texas Baptist University and Louisiana Baptist University. He is also an accomplished musician touring with Christian artist such as Geoff Moore and Darrel Evans.  We are thrilled to have him serve the Lord with us.