HAPPY TO HELP

Pate joins TBMB team as new BlueOval catalyst

STANTON — Eddie Pate won’t be spending his “retirement years” on the lake or at the golf course.

Having recently retired from his role as director of the Kim School of Global Missions at Gateway Seminary,  Pate has now accepted a new challenge: He’s joined the staff at the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board as the regional catalyst for BlueOval City.

His duties include coordinating and orchestrating the TBMB’s evangelism efforts in the region that surrounds BlueOval City — the Ford Company’s massive auto plant in Stanton that is bringing an estimated 10,000 workers to the area over the next few years. (See related sidebar on this page).

Pate said he and his wife had been planning to move to Tennessee after his retirement in order to be closer to their four sons, all of whom live in Tennessee. Being involved with BlueOval City wasn’t even on Pate’s radar.

But God had something in store.

“I had no other plans than to join Brownsville Baptist Church (where one of Pate’s sons is minister of music) and do whatever pastor Ben Cowell needed me to do,” Pate said.

“Then a year ago, I got a call from (TBMB president and executive director) Randy Davis about BlueOval City. To be honest, I am still not sure what brought that on.”

Pate soon had a meeting with Davis, Danny Sinquefield (Harvest Field One Team Leader and coordinator of the TBMB’s BlueOval City Partnership) and Steve Holt (TBMB church services director). The four men discussed the vision of the TBMB’s BlueOval Partnership and the plan to start new churches and strengthen existing churches in the Stanton area.

Pate quickly came to a decision: He was all in.

“I’m excited to have the chance to be a part of this,” he said. “I am most excited about the opportunity to be at the top of this wave as it is cresting. I am hoping to help accomplish the vision the Lord has given Tennessee Baptists to reach what will soon be large numbers of people moving into this area.”

Pate recently attended a gathering of West Tennessee mission pastors, and had the opportunity to meet with several church planters and pastors from the area. The meeting was held at Hebron Baptist Church, which is currently being used as the “home office” for the BlueOval Partnership.

Ed Reed, multiplying healthy churches catalyst for the TBMB, hosted the meeting. The event included an overall update on BlueOval City, information about the church planting process, and a designated time of fellowship where Pate was able to chat with the other pastors.

Sinquefield said he is excited to have Pate as a teammate — and team captain — in the BlueOval City ministry.

“We are blessed to have Eddie,” said Sinquefield. “This role is perfect for him in terms of his ministry experience, as well as his missional heart and skillset.”

Pate has a wide-ranging résumé that includes 16 years of service at Gateway Seminary (formerly Golden Gate Seminary) in California.  He was professor of evangelism and director of the Kim School of Missions from 2005-2011 and again from 2021-2025. (He filled that same role on a part-time basis in between his two full-time stints).

He has also served two tenures as pastor of First Baptist Church in Barstow, Calif., from 1986-1993 and 2011-2021. During his seminary years, he was pastor of North Temple Baptist in Dallas from 1982-1986.

Pate was the regional associate for the IMB in Northern African and the Middle East from 1998-2004, with responsibilities that included Sudan, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, Israel, and Palestinian teams.

“Eddie is a perfect fit for what we needed — and we are delighted that God opened this door,” Sinquefield said.  “(Pate’s) time serving as a pastor, with the IMB, and as a professor with Gateway Seminary has prepared him well to coordinate the strategic ministry opportunities in the seven-county region in West Tennessee.”

Pate, who has deep family roots in Tennessee, recently relocated to Brownsville, moving into the home where his mother, who passed away in 2021, previously lived. The house is only 20 minutes from the BlueOval campus.

He said he can’t wait to see what God has in store for the months ahead.

“We are going to see cities and counties here in West Tennessee develop roads, schools and homes that will support the Ford plant,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing churches that are 150-200 years old work with new church planters to reach the lost — both the current residents and those coming to West Tennessee. I’m very glad to have a small role in that.”

Although the Ford Company has slowed down its production schedule at BlueOval City — due to sagging sales of electric vehicles — the TBMB has not decelerated its evangelism efforts. Just the opposite, in fact.

“We’re moving right along, full speed ahead,” said Sinquefield. “I know this is not grammatically correct, but the truth is, we can’t NOT be prepared. We only have one chance to be ahead of things, and we are determined to do that.”

And that’s where Pate comes in, he added.

“As the area continues to grow and develop, Dr. Pate will work with associations and churches in the region to prepare for the season ahead,” Sinquefield said.

“His primary role as a catalyst will be to build relationships for strengthening existing churches and preparing to plant new churches in the area. Eddie is a gift to Tennessee Baptists and we are honored to have him serving with us in this exciting role with the BlueOval City initiative.”

Pate said he believes the delayed schedule is a blessing.

“The Lord has given us more time to prepare,” he said. “Time to prepare planters and time to prepare churches to respond in gaining a greater vision for their communities and beyond. It has also given us time to train our people better in evangelism and time to secure and renovate properties where believers can gather to worship.”

Pate said, in short, he believes it’s “go-time” for Tennessee Baptists.

“The bottom line is that BlueOval City is happening,” he said, “and while it has been delayed, the impact is probably going to be much bigger than we imagined initially.”

How to be involved with BlueOval city

Pate said Tennessee Baptists can continue to be engaged with BlueOval City in several specific ways. He requested the following:

• Pray for the churches in a 5-10 mile radius of the plant.

“These are exciting churches, but they need out support. Many of these churches have bivocational pastors, and they need our prayers, too.”

• Pray for churches in Tennessee to call for young people to respond to God’s call.

“We need leaders,” he said. “We need planters.”

• Pray about the possibility of making mission trips to BlueOval City.

“We can still use teams of people to come and see the land,” Pate said. “Teams to assist local churches in their outreach strategies, teams to prayer walk or ride.

“The construction projects (renovation of some church buildings) and ministry to those workers building the plant are at a lull at this point, but that all should resume again soon,” he said. B&R