Terry has had the privilege of leading three different ministries, all of which have broken through a variety of growth barriers.
His first pastorate was a 75 year old church located in a region that had suffered a significant demographic shift, which resulted in the area being called “Hell’s 40 Acres.” Coupled with the decline associated with this demographic shift were two pastoral transitions that resulted in the congregation declining to an attendance of only 35 people. With God’s help in applying the principles he now shares, the church grew to over 400 in just three and one half years.
His second pastorate was a church planting endeavor in 1984. This exposed him to a completely different set of challenges including no core group, no facilities and no funding. However, as he shared his vision, the Lord brought people and resources that resulted in a church of over 1,250 after nine years. In addition, they started three daughter or satellite churches from this ministry.
Currently he is the pastor of a church that incorporated both of his previous ministry experiences. The church was about 70 years old upon arrival and had suffered from two difficult pastoral transitions causing the church to fall from over 2,000 to only 300 people. They began the turnaround process with the remaining 300 people (predominantly senior adults) and they also began a second service (practically a new church within an existing one) that would appeal to younger families. Today the church serves over 1,500 (and still growing) and they have five daughter-satellite churches; four in Spanish and one in English.
During more than 30 years of ministry Terry has completed several consultant and coaching certification programs and has shared his leadership and ministry experiences around the world.
He has served as one of the trainers for Dr. John Maxwell’s Million Leader Mandate in which he was personally involved in training over 250,000 leaders. Today, he provides consulting, coaching and conference services for Building God’s Way (Forward in Faith Capital Stewardship Solutions, Vibrant Church Health Strategies, etc.), as well as his own ministries which include: T. L. Bates Ministries, Impact 5000 and Christian Leadership International. He is the host of the weekly television and radio ministry “Discover Faith” and is a regular host for TBN and a guest of Daystar.
Terry and his wife Robin have been married for over 25 years and have three children; Rachael, Naomi and Jason which are all actively involved in ministry.
Our Ministry
The Positioning Group has been serving pastors, congregations and organizations since 1981 through conferences, workshops, seminars, consulting services, vision development training, email and phone coaching services.
Terry is active in speaking for ministry retreats, conventions, camp meetings and conferences for a variety of organizations, denominations, church affiliation groups and independent church fellowships.