Youth Ministry Heroes: Tim Vestal

My Hero

My dear friend and former student Ashley Goad Broadhurst departs today on another mission trip to Haiti, and I am her prayer partner for the day.  Please join me in praying for her!


Today I want to tell you about one of my heroes of Youth Ministry.  His name is Tim Vestal (pictured- I confess to swiping this from his Facebook page), and unless you are a Quaker living in North Carolina you may never have heard of him.  He hasn't written a book.  He doesn't speak at national conferences.  He doesn't do podcasts and he's not on Twitter.  He's not even really Batman- at least not as far as I know.  He is simply a youth pastor who has dedicated his life to serving teenagers in the name of Jesus.  And nobody does it better.


For over 20 years now Tim has served local churches (only 2 in all those  years) in NC.  He has often been a Youth Pastor, Children's Minister, Choir Director and Sunday School/VBS guru all rolled into one.  His youth groups thrive and grow because of his faithfulness, creativity and dedication and willingness to share his life with his students.  But that's only one part of Tim's story.  I first met him when he was a student himself, one of the leaders of the Young Friends Yearly Meeting (conference youth) in NC.  Since those days he has been involved with a youth choir called Serenity.  This is an ever-changing group of youth that gathers from all over the state for 2 weeks each summer- one week to rehearse and one week to tour.  In fact, they are touring even as I write this post.  This group has toured for 29 years now, and Tim has participated in 24 of them (according to his wife).  And for the past 19 years he has been their director.  In addition, for many years he has led the Young Friends Activities Committee that plans numerous events throughout the year for the conference, including a winter camp called Youth Tremors and the annual Yearly Meeting each Fall.  He does these things because he loves teenagers and he loves Jesus.  He does not get paid for these conference events;  they are his passion.  And I can tell you from personal experience that there have been literally hundreds of youth (including some of my own) over the years who have been impacted by his work outside of his own church.  Tim Vestal is a ministry superstar.


I have known Tim for many years and consider him to be a dear friend.  We shared many great moments at the National Youth Workers Convention over the years (see The Banana Splits).  He brought me to NC as a guest speaker several times and we always had a blast.  I know that he is an expert on the Muppets.  I know that you rarely catch him without a toothbrush somewhere on his person.  I knew of his feelings for his lovely wife Sarah way before she became his lovely wife Sarah.  :)  I have loved him as a friend for a very long time.  But it has only been since my ministry ended that I have realized that Tim is my youth ministry hero.  And here's how I know- I wish so badly that my son could be in his youth group.  He does it well, and he does it right.  He's the most creative person I know.  He has built so many relationships and helped so many students discover the love of Jesus.  So here's what I want you to do today- whether you know Tim or not, I'd like for all of you to be praying for Tim and Serenity.  Better yet, leave an encouraging word for Tim as a comment here and I will make sure he gets them.  The world of ministry could do with fewer celebrities and more Tim Vestals.  In fact, now that I think about it...maybe he is Batman. Tim has a special place in my youth ministry Hall of Fame!


Because of Jesus,