Our Team

Mark Nelson began serving as the executive director of Three Rivers Collaborative in January of 2021.  He has been in vocational ministry for the last 38 years including seven years in youth ministry in Knoxville, ten years in campus ministry at Purdue University, and over fifteen years in church planting. Mark planted a faith community called Crossings in downtown Knoxville in 2007, and he served as lead pastor until he began his transition to Three Rivers in 2021.  He is the coauthor of Reframation: Seeing God, People, and Mission Through Reenchanted Frames (with Alan Hirsch) and most recently, Lunchroom Theology: Pushing Tables Together in a Fractured World (with Dr. Heather Gorman). Mark is a 1987 & 2021 graduate of Johnson University. He has been married to Dr. Monica Nelson, professor of nursing at Johnson University, for 37 years and has three grown children.

Maddie Yoder Tate has been involved with Three Rivers Collaborative since fall of 2021 and came on as the full time Assistant Director in 2025. She has been in vocational ministry since 2021 and currently serves as the Family Pastor at Thorn Grove Christian Church where she was ordained in 2024.  Maddie grew up in central Missouri and moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to attend Johnson University, where she graduated with her Bachelors in Preaching and Church Leadership and most recently her Masters in Ethics in Leadership. She married her husband Tyler in 2022 and the two have been adventuring together ever since. Maddie is passionate about multi-generational spiritual formation and a creating a space in the local church for people who are longing for Jesus.