Alumni Spotlight: Jim Urban

Urban family
James, Becky, Joshua, and Connor

James (Jim) Urban remembers the day when a TBC student knocked on his parents’ front door.  He and his sister were young kids at the time and experiencing an unstable family environment.  That day, the conversation between his father and the TBC student led to a spiritual transformation in the Urban family: lost souls found a savior, a broken family found forgiveness and reconciliation, and a young man grew up with a desire to help others who find themselves in difficult situations.  Jim eventually earned his Bachelor’s degree at TBC and was involved in outreach ministries similar to the one that broke through in his own life.

For Jim, earning his Bachelor’s was just the beginning – but he took that beginning very seriously. As a Pastoral Theology major Jim was privileged to learn under some of the most iconic professors in the history of TBC.  He made it a point to take all of the classes taught by John Cash, Charles Shafer, and Bob Kendall.  You know that was a workload!

After graduation, Jim and his wife, Becky, moved to VA where they both completed their Master’s degrees at LU: Jim in Professional Counseling and Becky in Music Education.  It was when he started his Masters studies that Jim realized just how thankful he was for his college professors.  “I was pushed to the grad work level without even realizing it.  It made my life so much easier when I was doing my masters work.  I had all this groundwork already in place and I knew how to write papers!”

One of his favorite memories took place in Dr. Cash’s summer Greek II class.  “Everyone in class was on the verge of burnout – most of us were married and had full time jobs; it was just a tough time for all of us.  Suddenly, Dr. Cash sat down on the edge of the desk and stunned us all by saying, ‘Let me tell you about something that happen to me when I was in college…’ that conversation is forever ingrained in my mind.  The compassion he showed at that moment got me through that week and stayed with me.”

In 2017, Jim and Becky transitioned back to Jacksonville.  These days Jim is pursuing doctorate work and runs his own local counseling practice, Uplift Counseling Center, while also teaching several online courses for TBC.  This past year, he graciously made an internship opportunity in his practice available to a current TBC senior.  Becky Urban teaches music in TCA elementary and they have two sons, Joshua and Connor.

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