The Symptoms of a Dying Church
Fate Hagood matriculated through elementary, junior high, and high schools in the Compton and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. He graduated from Dominguez High in 1979. Fate received several awards and commendations for art, theater, sports, education, and writing as a young man. Among those were Mr. State and National Youth Conference and the G. P. Bowser Award for ministerial excellence at Southwestern Christian College. He received training in Greek and other biblical doctrines and theology at the Bay Area School Of Preaching. He graduated from Southwestern Christian College with a Bachelor of Arts in Bible/Religious Education and from Cal State Dominguez Hills University with a Certified Professional Teaching Credential. His Masters of Biblical Interpretation and Ministry is from Lubbock Christian University.
He grew up at the Figueroa church of Christ under the preaching of Dr. R.N. Hogan, Dr. Calvin Bowers, and Bro. Woodie Morrison. Among his mentors in the faith are Kinwood Devore, Dr. Richard Barclay, Bro. Chuck Ferguson, and his mom, Sis. Irene Hagood.
Fate worked as a public school teacher for 15 years. He also worked as a youth minister for The Compton Ave Church of Christ and as a youth minister, associate minister, pulpit minister, and ministering evangelist for the Eastside Church of Christ.
After years of doing ministry in a more traditional paradigm, the Lord laid on Fate’s heart to do ministry with a more contemporary methodology within the fellowship of the churches of Christ. Without departing from his restoration roots and faithfulness to the churches of Christ, he planted the Metropolitan congregation with a group of sold-out disciples who were willing to do whatever it took to be a great congregation for Jesus.
Fate saw a need to reach out to people who may have been turned off and/or turned away by the customary methodology in some churches of Christ. He is often heard to say, “We are reaching out to those whom others in our fellowship may miss.” This movement is not anti-establishment but is instead pro-evangelistic. He is theologically conservative but methodologically progressive. He attributes some of this pioneering spirit to Dr. R.N. Hogan. Fate says, “Bro. Hogan was one of the most creative preachers I knew. Figueroa had the first national choruses, radio program, bus ministry, etc.… R.N. Hogan was amazing.” As the apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 9:22, “Among the weak in faith I become weak like one of them, in order to win them. So, I become all things to all people, that I may save some of them by whatever means are possible.”
What you get with Fate Hagood III are musings, ramblings, epiphanies, common senses, deepnesses, poetic verses, ventings, sillinesses, and pithy sayings on God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, Christianity, modernity, postmodernity, culture, hermeneutics, homiletics, the church, politics, worship, relationships, race, social justice, food, music, dude stuff, and a plethora of other random cities and relevancies from a partially deranged, jocularitous, way too blessed, married way above my deserving, blessed with a vibrant driven heart of gold daughter and a genius/artistic son, graced to minister at an amazing church, neo-restorationist, hermeneutically theological exegetical expositor guy from Compton in the place to be, throw yo hands in the air like you don’t care (hip-hop heads will understand).
Fate is married to the spiritually vigorous and vivacious Mira Alane Hagood. They were wed on August 16, 1986. They have two children Destiny Alane (graduate of Abilene Christian University) and Fate IV (graduate of Pepperdine University). Fate loves his family and keeps them as a priority in his life.