By Brienna Williams | After almost a decade of serving in youth ministry, former youth pastor Bryan Pate has made the transition to serving in college ministry with the Baptist Student Ministry at Howard Payne University.
“We are closely tied to and involved with Howard Payne, so I heard that Keith Platte was resigning from his position as the BSM director. I wasn’t really interested in applying until Dr. Gary Gramling approached me and asked if I was willing to submit my resume,” said Pate. In October of 2020 Pate accepted an unexpected new position as the Director of the BSM at HPU.
“I really didn’t think that anything was going to come of submitting my application, but through prayer and the interview process, God opened all the doors and we just followed in obedience,” said Pate.
In addition to the change of a new job, Pate’s wife just gave birth to their first child before the start of the second semester.
“Vanessa and I have been married for eight years. On New Year’s Eve, just one month ago, we had our first child, Graylyn Ivy Pate,” Pate said.
As an alumnus of HPU, Pate is passionate about the university and its mission.
“I graduated with both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Howard Payne. Being so closely tied to Howard Payne, I truly believe in what HPU does. Having the chance to minister here and be a part of contributing to this community is one of my favorite things about my position as BSM director,” said Pate.
Pate believes that the BSM is an avenue through which students can form foundations for their faith during college.
“For college students, this season of their lives is a great opportunity to build foundations in their faith. We hope to help students create a vision of discipleship for their lives that they will carry beyond their college years,” said Pate.
Pate’s vision for the BSM is that it will be a place where students can celebrate their faith during their college years.
“We want to provide a space where students have the opportunity to celebrate their faith during college. We do this through reaching out and discipling as many students as we can on campus,” Pate said.
Like other ministries, the ministry of the BSM looks different right now in the midst of the pandemic.
“Our purpose is to share the gospel and make disciples, but right now one of the biggest challenges we are trying to overcome is how to connect with people when there are restrictions. We are having to be really creative with how we reach out to students,” said Pate.
Pate views the position of the BSM as a transitional, learning stage adding that no changes have been implemented yet.
Pate strongly believes that as followers of Jesus, we are all called to be in ministry, regardless of our occupation.
“If you’re a Christian studies major you probably have connections, but what about students in other majors who don’t have connections? We’re all called to be in ministry regardless of our occupation. We hope to bridge that gap for students by being a ministry of connections to connect students with opportunities for discipleship and ministry,” said Pate.
Pate gave the following advice to students who are looking to be involved with the BSM.
“Talk to someone who is involved, have a conversation with me, Abi Brown or one of the leadership team members. Most importantly, be open to what God wants to do in your life and be available,” said Pate.