TEXARKANA, Texas - In pursuing God's call, the Youngbloods, co-pastors of Vessel Church, have found themselves returned to the Twin Cities. It is not something Jon Youngblood embraced, but while in Dallas, the call to return to his hometown became clear.
"I have been in the ministry for 17 years, church ministry for 12," said Jon. "Before I entered church pastorship, my ministerial work had been dealing with people with specific needs, like addiction and so forth."
When Jon married Jessica, the two of them also joined as a ministry team. They entered into an executive pastorship with Shoreline City Church in Dallas. Their congregation grew from 80 to 5,000 over a six-year period.
"We moved three times as our congregation growth required," Jon said. "Even in our largest building, we had to have three Sunday services to accommodate our entire audience. Things were great, with a large, growing church, and all the blessings that come with that. We honestly thought we would be there forever."
"God had different plans," said Jessica Youngblood. "Everything was set up, we had a life, roots, family. Jon had a good salary, we were set. But it became clear God had other ideas."
One June morning in 2018, Jon awoke early.
"I knew God was urging me with a message," he said. "I wrestled with it about a month. Late July, I reached out to my pastor for a talk. I shared that I believed God was leading us to go pastor our own church. My pastor, Earl McClellan, said, 'You have to go. I knew this day would come when I first met you.'
"Even more interestingly, he said to me where it was I was called to be: Texarkana. 'You've been running from that city since I knew you.' I did not want to go back to Texarkana, as I associated it with pain and dysfunction for a variety of reasons. I just told people it was the one place to which I would never go back."
But the Youngbloods set about to return.
"As we worked to figure out the right time to make the move, I kept seeing images of people in pain. I knew they were here in Texarkana, as if God was prodding me on," Jon said. "As if the longer we waited, the more they hurt. Time was a-wastin', get on with it. Once we made the decision, we put our house up for sale the next day."
Jessica said they sold their house, their cars, enrolled their kids in Texarkana schools and moved here in August of 2018.
Since arriving, the Youngbloods have been "doing church" at downtown locations, quickly outgrowing each.
"One of our previous locations was Pecan Point," Jon said. "They are closed on Sunday's, so they let us use the space. Big love to Bill Spurlock for letting us use the building."
Now, they are preparing the new home of Vessel Church in a building at 720/722 Pine Street. The building is well on its way to taking on its new mission in ministry.
"Some people, when considering coming to a church, have the mistaken idea that they must make themselves worthy before they darken the door," he said. "But to think that is to miss the point of church. This is a place for healing
"Our church motto is 'Hope for every story,'" Jessica said. "We don't choose who has hope and who doesn't. Christ's hope is there for everyone, for the choosing."
As for when Vessel Church will begin services, this remains to be determined.
"We don't have an opening date," Jessica said. "We are completing the work, all done by wonderful volunteers. We are waiting on our certificate of occupancy. The building itself becoming ours is in itself an act of love. Tony Asbille, the owner who is giving it over to us, felt moved to help out a new church, so he financed the project for us. This is all God's moving and we are following his lead."
(For more information, go to Vessel Church TXK on Facebook, or visit their website at vesseltxk.church.)