Sam Pirrotta

Personal Background

Sam was born and raised in west-central Minnesota. He grew up on Sybil Lake, where he developed a love for wildlife, hunting, fishing, and trapping. He graduated from Perham High School in 2014 and then moved to Fargo, North Dakota for college. He lived in Fargo for eight years before moving to Kansas City in July 2022. Sam met his wife, Kate, while doing evangelism through Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City. They were both struck by each other’s boldness to share the gospel. They married on June 7th, 2025, and are members of Mission Road Bible Church in Prairie Village, Kansas.

Educational Background

Sam attended North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. He graduated in 2017 with a B.S. in Zoology. In August 2019, he started his seminary education online through Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He graduated with a Master of Divinity in Biblical Languages on May 6, 2022. He is now residentially working on his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. He hopes to graduate with his Th.M. in Pedagogy and Ph.D. in Systematic Theology in the Spring of 2026. As a Ph.D. resident, Sam is receiving further training in Christian scholarship, pedagogy, and institutional administration.

Ministry Background

During his time at NDSU, Sam felt God’s call into ministry. Not knowing what that would look like for the future, he decided to intern for one year with the campus ministry of Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ). That year, he felt the unshakeable desire to preach and teach God’s Word. Having already discovered a deep love for theological study and a passion for doctrinal purity, he began pursuing further education in theology to equip him for a life of preaching. In that year with Cru, Sam began developing strong relationships with Brandon Smith and Dan Rudman, two evangelists with Ambassadors for Christ International. AFCI’s core vision of seeking revival in the Church, doing evangelism through the Church, and providing training for the Church worldwide perfectly articulated his ministry passion. Thus, he joined AFCI in August 2018 as an Evangelist-in-Training. In January 2021, He was welcomed as a full-time evangelist.

In 2019, Sam was sent out by Ignite Church in Moorehead, MN, to come alongside pastor and church planter Cody Weckerly to help plant Harvest Plains Church in Casselton, ND. Sam served Harvest Plains Church in diverse ways, though primarily through preaching, teaching, and leading a small group.

Sam has traveled to six continents to do evangelistic and leadership training ministry. He has evangelized heavily secularized and atheistic college students on college campuses in Montevideo, Uruguay, Paris, France, and Beijing, China. He has also preached at church leadership conferences alongside Dan Rudman in Cairo, Egypt, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Also, alongside Dan, he developed a master’s-level evangelism course and taught it in August 2024 at the College of Theology and Evangelism – Fiji. Once he finishes his Ph.D., he hopes to serve the church by providing theological and evangelistic training to pastors and ministers worldwide.

Ministry Focus

Sam’s heart beats for faithful, doctrinal preaching. In that way, nothing in ministry is more exhilarating than expository preaching. Sam has preached in various settings, including campuses and local Churches, around Minnesota, North Dakota, Missouri, and Kansas. Sam teaches on multiple issues, including apologetics, evangelism, ethics, and biblical manhood and womanhood. He loves personal evangelism and regularly visits university campuses to evangelize college students. His scholarship focuses on theologies of law, political theology, theological systems, the relationship between the covenants, the relationship between Israel and the Church, anthropology, and gender roles. As an evangelist, he is also conducting scholarship on the work of the evangelist. In March 2023, Sam presented a paper at the Midwest regional meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, arguing for the church office of evangelist. In November of 2024, Sam presented on the work of the evangelist at the Annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in San Diego. Sam is a student member of the Evangelical Theological Society.

At Midwestern Seminary, Sam has served as the Doctoral Fellow for Dr. Joe M. Allen III, Assistant Professor of Missions and Gary Taylor Chair of Missions and Evangelism, since August 2022. Along with conducting research alongside Dr. Joe Allen on evangelism and missions, Sam occasionally lectures on the history of missions and the practice of evangelism. Sam has also served as an online instructor for Spurgeon College, teaching Christian Doctrine.

Finally, Sam creates and produces the Preach and Persuade Podcast. The podcast focuses on the Christian life, theology and doctrine, culture, and worldview. The podcast has been listened to in over 60 countries, with over 100 episodes published.

Resources From Sam

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