SAGU alumnus Robert E. Purvey is making an incredible impact on youth and young adults in the Dallas area.

Purvey is the youth and young adults pastor at Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, a 5,000 member church in southwest Dallas. At Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, Purvey enjoys pastoring over 500 teenagers. He is also the host of a weekly radio show called, “Real Teen Talk” on KHVN Heaven 97, and a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Character Coach for several football, basketball, and volleyball teams in the DFW Metroplex. As a recent graduate of SAGU, Purvey believes that the training he received during his time at SAGU has helped to develop him into a more versatile minister.

“God won't always call you to places where you are comfortable, Purvey said. “I believe SAGU is a good training ground to prepare you for when God calls you to those uncomfortable places.”

Purvey's unique road to ministry began when he was just a teenager. When Purvey was 13 years old, he lost his younger brother in a fatal car accident when a drunk driver struck their car after leaving church. After overcoming this devastating tragedy, he felt God calling him to be a voice for his generation and the generation behind him. This calling would later result in Purvey feeling led to SAGU's campus.

Purvey arrived at SAGU in 2001 but would later have to leave in 2005 due to a financial situation. However, it was during this time that Purvey became the youth pastor at Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church. After several years, Purvey decided to finish his degree at SAGU and resumed his undergraduate studies in 2012. He later graduated in May of 2016 with a bachelor's degree in Professional Development and an associate's degree in Biblical Studies.

“Being a student at SAGU allowed me to get out of my way and step into God’s will”, Purvey said. “I was challenged in several ways at SAGU but everything prepared me for ministry.”

Coming from a Baptist background, SAGU was a spiritual adjustment for Purvey entering into a Pentecostal environment. However, Purvey believes that the time he spent at SAGU enabled him to grow into a more diverse speaker with an understanding of different denominations.

“I became 'bapti-costal' at SAGU,” Purvey said. “I have been impressed by the strides the school has made over the past several years to make sure that people from all walks of life and ethnicities come and get an education but at the same time not diverting from who they are and what they stand for.”

Purvey has impacted the lives of thousands of youth over the span of his ministry. He travels throughout the nation to minister to churches, youth groups, conferences, and schools through dynamic preaching and motivational speaking.

Upon recent years he has become a frequent guest lecturer in SAGU courses, including Strategies for Student Success and Youth Ministries Courses with Dr. Owensby.

One of Purvey's main goals in ministry is to be a bridge between denominations and cultures and to help equip leaders to be effective in their various areas of ministry and work.