Building family in Nashville for men called to vocational singleness for the kingdom.
We hope brothers will find a stable, life-giving family in our community that meets their intimacy needs in healthy ways. Christian men called to vocational singleness will experience safe human love in the context of Christian family, serving as a physical embodiment of God’s love. Brothers will be drawn deeper into relationship with Jesus and participate more faithfully in their sanctification. In these ways, the Nashville Family of Brothers will fulfill Christ’s promise for those who give up spouse and children for the sake of the kingdom to receive 100-fold family in this life. This experience of family will empower brothers to leverage their availability from not raising children to do kingdom work parents do not have the time, energy, or financial freedom to do. Brothers will discover how God is individually calling them to use their worklife to build the kingdom.
Pieter studied at Vanderbilt University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Lipscomb University. One day a week, he uses his Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling to serve undergraduate students navigating questions of faith, sexuality, and identity. The rest of the week, Pieter runs EQUIP, a team of missionary consultants committed to equipping the Church to love sexual minorities. He is a member of Church of the Redeemer Anglican. In his free time Pieter may be found running, playing the bassoon, cooking for friends, cuddling with his dog, hosting a board game nights, and snuggling with his friends’ babies. Pieter has made a three year commitment in October 2020. You can reach him at pieter.locke.valk@gmail.com.
Jim studied History at Wheaton College. His biological family lives in New Jersey and North Carolina, and he’s constantly trying to get his two sisters to visit (and move to) Nashville. He works at SmileDirectClub, an invisible aligners company, in downtown Nashville, TN where he is a trainer. Before this, he taught seventh grade English reading and writing. He attends Church of the Redeemer, an Anglican Church. In his free time, Jim likes to try new Nashville restaurants, play the piano, attend the Symphony, and play board games. He enjoys eating brunch and getting work done in coffeeshops on rainy days. Jim made a three year commitment on October 2020. You can reach him at jimhtablazon@gmail.com.
Jeff earned his Masters in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago. He is currently the Chemistry and Physics Lab Manager for Belmont University. Jeff attends Koinonia, an intentionally multiethnic church in Nashville, where Jeff helps lead Student Ministry. When he isn’t preparing for experiments in the lab or discipling teenagers, you’ll likely find Jeff testing an adventurous recipe in the kitchen or tweaking a design for his 3D printer. Jeff made a one year commitment on October 2020.
On Monday, March 26th, 2018, 8 men gathered for dinner, prayer, and to consider if God was calling us to start an ecumenical Christian monastery in Nashville. Over the next year 14 different guys joined us for weekly dinner, discussion of books about discernment or theology, and prayer about God’s call on our lives. In between dinners we performed miserably at Trivia, enjoyed the Nashville Symphony, and vacationed in Charleston, South Carolina together.
…weekly dinner, discussion of books about discernment or theology, and prayer about God’s call on our lives.
A year later, on Saturday, February 23rd, 2019, Jim Tablazon and Pieter Valk made one-year promises to the Nashville Family of Brothers, beginning their formal processes of discerning whether God was calling them to make the Family their family.
In the summer of 2020 the NFOB Pastoral Advisory Board was established to provide accountability and oversight from local pastors. In October 2020, Jeff Gustafson joined the community by making one-year commitments and Jim and Pieter made three-year commitments. The Nashville Family of Brothers celebrated their first family Christmas on December 25th, 2020. In June 2020, the Community Covenant of the Nashville Family of Brothers was officially adopted.
We continue to meet weekly with brothers in Christ at different stages of their discernment with great anticipation of what God might do in Nashville through this Family.
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