Pleased To Meet You…Let Me Introduce Jason
Pleased To Meet You…Let Me Introduce Jason
Jason Turbeville was adopted from a Catholic orphanage at the age of one month in Birmingham Alabama. He grew up, as most military kids, moving every three to four years, Denver, El Paso, Augusta, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth. He played football and baseball but loved being an offensive lineman, a protector and road grader. Jason still loves football, if you are looking for him on a Saturday afternoon, the best place to start is in front of his T.V. watching college football, don’t look for him there on Sundays, he is not much of a fan of the pros at this point. Jason has always been a bit weird. He has a very dark sense of humor that sometimes gets him into trouble. Jason loves dark movies, not horror stories mind you, but movies like Fargo. He also loves vampire and werewolf movies, cannot get enough of them. Jason also has a love for 1980’s metal, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, W.A.S.P. and others, but he also has an affinity for classical music, whether it is symphonic, piano, or guitar. He just doesn’t get rap though.
Jason met his wife Susan in High School and married soon after. His first son, Matthew was born in 1999, and it was through his son that he found God. He also has twin boys, Joshua and Christian, who were born in 2002. He grew up going to different churches, Methodist with his mom, Episcopal with his dad, and a host of others, but never understood the relationship that could be had with God. Shortly after finding his relationship with Christ he found himself drawn to Seminary. If you would have asked him why, he could not have told you, but would have said definitely not to preach.
Fast forward two years and Jason found himself in the unlikely position of being asked to help at a junior high weekend retreat. It was at during this unlikely time he found himself drawn to youth ministry. Jason was asked to help teach 8th grade boys and was partnered with a man who had been teaching youth for 25 years. He learned how to lead a bible study and from others in the group what it meant to be a youth minister. He had found his calling. He spent the next twelve years as a youth minister in three different churches. During this time Jason was also introduced to missions through his first mission trip to Serbia. His love for reaching the lost through missions almost burned as bright as his love for youth ministry. Jason loves to take people on their first mission trip so they can get a better understanding of just how blessed they truly are, and hopefully ignite a passion for others.
In 2015 Jason was at odds with a deacon at the church he was serving and it ended with him leaving his ministry. He was devastated to say the least. He moped around for three months and began to search out God’s will for him. Jason and his family started attending a church with a wonderful pastor who helped Jason move through his transition. Lonnie is the type of pastor anyone would love to have. Through his mentorship Jason moved to a place where he was ready to serve again. Jason thought he would always be a youth pastor. “Adults bore me” was one of his favorite lines. Imagine his confusion when every youth minister position he applied for came up dry. He started to wonder if he was still called to be a minister, with the encouragement of his wife and the support of others he volunteered at a church plant,he was allowed to preach every other week and was given the opportunity he needed. God had changed his calling, Jason thought he would be in youth ministry until he died, but now he knew his calling was as a pastor.
In November of 2016 he became Southside Baptist newest pastor and could not have been happier. He knows God has put him in this position to be a part of people’s lives. He does not approach his position lightly, his job, as he sees it, is as a shepherd. Jason believes his upbringing, through many faiths, including as an atheist, and his battle with his own demons were worth the fight. He is a pastor because he wants to help people heal, from spiritual and emotional hurts. If you were to ask his wife Susan, she would say it is the perfect place for her husband. She sees his joy in serving like it was when he first found Christ. If you were to ask his friends, they would tell you Jason is doing what he was made to be. Jason laughs when he looks back over the course of the last three years, he should have seen it coming.
Jason sees his opportunity at George Fox as more than just schooling. He sees it as stepping stone to be able to be a part of something bigger. The opportunity to be part of the global community, and to make a difference for Christ. In the Leadership and Global Development program Jason has found a home.
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