Christian Peterson
reporter@riverbendnews.org
Eddie Blalock was born in Saint Augustine, Fla., in 1956. Blalock was raised in the church by two godly parents. By the age of nine, he was baptized and saved. When he was only 15-years-old Blalock felt the call to be a pastor and began being mentored and started preaching. After graduating from Bradford High School in 1974, he began his journey of pastoring churches.
After high school, Blalock went to Luther Rice Seminary, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies, as well as a master’s degree in biblical studies. The first church Blalock pastored was New Oak Grove Baptist Church when he was only 19-years-old. After 12 years, he moved to the First Baptist Church of Branford, where he would serve for 14 years. Then, Blalock made the jump to the First Baptist Church of Perry, where he would pastor for five years. In 2007, he founded the Orchard Church in Lake City. While he was still in Perry, he felt a call from God to take a different approach to church with a more non-traditional view. The spark that brought him to this was watching young families leave the church; he wanted to create a church that would attract these young families. Thus, the idea for The Orchard Church was born.
Blalock is happily married to his wife of 47 years, Beth Blalock. Together, they have two kids, both married, gifting them with 10 grandchildren. Blalock’s favorite book of the Bible is Phillipians, and his favorite verse is 1 Timothy 4:12, which reads, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers. In speech, in life, in love and in faith and in purity.”
Blalock is now the pastor of the Branford location of The Orchard Church, which is a multi-site church. They have four locations, including Lake City, Live Oak, Branford and Ocala. All four of the locations have a service at 10:30 a.m., while the Lake City and Live Oak locations also have a service at 9 a.m. There are over 800 members of the church, and they offer Wednesday night services for students. “The Orchard exists to make disciples of the unconvinced, unconnected and unfinished,” Blalock said.