Add field date to node tpl
Make sure that the field is visible under 'Manage Display' for the view mode you are working with.

If you setup the field to display in a format you like you can also just do this in your template file (instead of the format_date() part):

&lt;?php print render($content['field_date'] ?&gt;


In any case make sure that you also do the following before $content is rendered:

&lt;?php print hide($content['field_date']) ?&gt;