I’ll Go If I Have to Go By Myself: How a Song Became the Ministry Soundtrack of Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.
I’ll Go If I Have to Go By Myself: How a Song Became the Ministry Soundtrack of Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. | Song: https://youtu.be/G6JhJ6wd9Ew?is=1EbyvwTVNIw1K92g
Isaiah 6:8
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me.’” — Isaiah 6:8
Some assignments from God are too difficult for the crowd.
Some journeys require a leader willing to walk alone.
Throughout Scripture, God has consistently called ordinary people to extraordinary missions that few others were willing to accept. Those roads are often lonely, misunderstood, and filled with sacrifice. Yet they are also the roads where faith becomes action and vision becomes history.
For more than four decades, Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. has spent much of his life walking those roads.
A Song That Became a Calling
In 1985, while sitting on the front pew of Elm Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, Kyev heard the gospel song, “I’ll Go If I Have to Go By Myself.”
In that moment, he sensed God speaking directly to his spirit.
He knew there would come a day when God would ask him to accept assignments others might avoid—missions requiring courage, conviction, perseverance, and, at times, complete solitude.
That song became more than music.
It became the soundtrack of his ministry.
Twenty Years of Preparation (1984–2004)
God’s preparation carried him across Texas.
From Fort Worth…
to Stephenville…
to Denton…
to San Marcos…
and eventually back home to Fort Worth.
For nearly twenty years, every classroom, every staff meeting, every university campus, every community meeting, every challenge, every victory, and every disappointment became preparation for a ministry waiting in the neighborhood where he had grown up.
God was building a servant long before unveiling the assignment.
He was preparing him for the long game of ministry.
Building Where Others Saw Ruins (1993)
Kyev has never been attracted to what already works.
He has always been drawn to forgotten places.
In 1993, he discovered the abandoned wing of the historic San Marcos Colored School.
Many saw a deteriorating building.
Kyev saw possibility.
Through prayer, faith, persistence, and community collaboration, that neglected structure became the Mitchell Center—a place where dreams were reborn.
From that vision emerged educational partnerships, youth development initiatives, the Boys & Girls Club, Toddlertown for working families, and the Texas Preparatory School charter initiative.
Where others saw decay…
God allowed Kyev to see destiny.
A Ministry of Justice
God has given few people the ability to confront injustice while simultaneously building bridges toward healing.
Throughout his ministry, Kyev has become known as a voice for truth, reconciliation, and justice.
His ministry has taken him from California to Washington, D.C.; from New York City to the U.S. Virgin Islands, speaking on civil rights, criminal justice reform, education, mediation, community development, and Christian leadership.
Whether advocating for children, senior adults, underserved communities, or congregations, his message has remained remarkably consistent:
Justice and Jesus belong together.
Returning Home
In 2004, God brought Kyev back to Fort Worth.
Fourteen years later, in 2018, God completed the assignment by calling him to serve as Pastor of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church, located directly across the street from his former middle school, Morningside Middle School.
He returned home not merely to pastor a congregation…
but to rebuild a community.
He surveyed the neighborhood.
He listened to residents.
He gathered leaders.
Then he went to work, developing strategies that addressed both spiritual and social needs.
Building Peace
Recognizing growing tensions between law enforcement and communities of color, Pastor Tatum envisioned the Community Peacemaker Program.
The initiative brought police officers, clergy, neighborhood residents, and community leaders together for mediation, relationship-building, and de-escalation training.
The program became recognized as an innovative approach to community policing, demonstrating that faith communities could become trusted partners in restoring relationships and reducing conflict.
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Healing a City
In 2019, Pastor Tatum helped unite clergy, volunteers, healthcare providers, and community organizations to support one of the nation’s largest free healthcare outreach events.
Hosted at Will Rogers Memorial Center through Pathway to Health, more than 10,000 individuals received medical, dental, and vision care.
For thousands of families, healthcare became accessible because churches chose to serve.
Leading During the Pandemic
Then came COVID-19.
Perhaps no assignment better illustrates the meaning of “I’ll Go If I Have to Go By Myself.”
As fear spread across America, Pastor Tatum helped mobilize Black churches across Texas into emergency community response centers.
Churches became places of hope.
They distributed food.
Personal protective equipment.
COVID-19 testing.
Vaccinations.
Public health education.
Ultimately, New Mount Rose became part of the only church-based network in the nation to provide monoclonal antibody infusions for uninsured and underserved residents without primary care physicians.
Working alongside federal, state, nonprofit, and philanthropic partners—including FEMA, USDA, HHSC, the Rainwater Foundation, and the Hogg Foundation—New Mount Rose distributed more than $25 million in emergency supplies during one of the most challenging public health crises in American history.
Restoring the Rose
As if the pandemic were not enough, disaster struck again.
During the February 2021 winter storm, New Mount Rose’s 15,000-square-foot campus sustained catastrophic flooding.
Nearly every room in the church suffered significant water damage.
Rather than surrender, Pastor Tatum led the congregation through the largest restoration project in its history.
The $500,000 renovation, known as Restore the Rose, renewed not only the church building but also the congregation’s commitment to serving the community.
A Church That Serves
Today, New Mount Rose is recognized not only for worship but for service.
Monthly Community Food Bowls.
Weekly community meals.
Prayer vigils.
Town hall meetings.
Disaster response.
Health initiatives.
Educational programs.
Neighborhood partnerships.
The church has become known for going where others are unwilling to go.
Growing Hope
Pastor Tatum now envisions New Mount Rose becoming a Green Pulpit Incubator for a new green economy in Morningside.
Working alongside partners such as Guns to Gardens, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Prairie View A&M Extension, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and local agricultural leaders, he helped launch the Funkytown Food Forest, transforming a community experiencing food apartheid into a community growing toward food sovereignty.
He also created Peace From a Pallet, a therapeutic gardening ministry that transforms discarded wooden pallets into raised garden boxes.
The initiative teaches families to grow fresh fruits and vegetables, promotes outdoor wellness through gardening and sun therapy, strengthens neighborhood food security, encourages environmental stewardship, and creates pathways toward green jobs and community entrepreneurship.
What others discard…
God can transform into life.
The Greatest Assignment Yet
Now, in 2026, Pastor Tatum believes God has placed before him perhaps the greatest assignment of his ministry.
The Morningside community has the lowest life expectancy in Texas.
Many see statistics.
Pastor Tatum sees possibilities.
Through the Chancellor Erma Johnson Hadley CommuniVersity Center, New Mount Rose is pioneering a new model of ministry that brings higher education directly into the neighborhood.
Its mission is simple:
Bring the university to the community so the community can go back to college.
Through the Pipeline to Possibilities initiative, partnerships with the University of North Texas at Dallas, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and institutions across Texas are creating pathways toward citizenship, workforce development, healthcare careers, entrepreneurship, technology, ministry leadership, and lifelong learning.
It is a bold vision.
An ambitious vision.
Some would even call it impossible.
But history suggests otherwise.
Whenever God has called Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. to build what others believed could not be built…
he has answered the same way:
“Here am I. Send me.”
And if necessary…
he will go if he has to go by himself.
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