Dr. Samuel Huddleston

Assistant Superintendent of the Northern California and Nevada District Assemblies of God was elected to office in 2004. He also served as the former founding pastor of Lighthouse Covenant Fellowship in Benicia, California, 1993-2004. The church began in the Huddlestons’ home with six families.

Graduating in 1980 from Bethany College in Santa Cruz, CA, Samuel and his wife Linda moved to San Rafael, California, where he attended Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.  Sensing a call to youth ministry, Samuel accepted a position at Church on the Hill in Vallejo, California, where he served from 1981 to 1988 under Pastor Terry Inman.  While there, Pastor Inman encouraged Samuel to further his education, and he subsequently enrolled at Azusa Pacific University, eventually earning his Masters Degree in Marriage Family and Child Counseling.

That educational experience also helped Samuel to finally understand his troubled childhood and what had driven him, years earlier as a reckless teenager, to be involved in a crime that had cost him five years of his life in prison. While incarcerated, Samuel surrendered his life to Christ and learned about God’s unconditional love.

His autobiography, Five Years to Life (Perkins Publishing, 2013), has inspired people across America and throughout the world, giving them hope for a new beginning.  Samuel has shared his testimony with thousands — including prison inmates — reminding them not only with words but also with his very presence, that God has the power to put broken lives and broken relationships back together again.

Before entering the pastorate in Benicia, Samuel was appointed as the Executive Director of a state wide non-profit organization under the auspices of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which matched adult inmates and wards (youth) with outside volunteer visitors.  Serving from 1989 to 1991, Samuel Huddleston remains the only former prisoner to ever lead a California Department of Corrections program. Later, Samuel returned to his Alma mater to serve as Dean of Students at Bethany College under Dr. Everett Wilson. In May 2006 Samuel received his Doctorate of Ministry degree from Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA in leadership. Samuel and Linda reside in Rancho Cordova, CA near their three married children: Royce, Andre, and Ericka. They have thirteen grandchildren.

For more information regarding Dr. Samuel log on to samhuddleston.com