Cedarville Stories Podcast: Servanthood Lessons From A Doorman to the Stars

by Clem Boyd, Communication Content Manager – May 13, 2021

For Tim Abel, Cedarville event manager, one of the most important laboratories for learning servanthood happened on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago.

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Tim Abel has served in many different roles: bi-vocational pastor, midnight campus safety officer, assistant director of church relations, and event manager. In all his roles, as much as seeks to care well for others, his servanthood ultimately has one focus: Jesus.  

An important laboratory for servanthood occurred in the years when Tim was a student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. While studying there, he also worked as a doorman at a downtown condominium building that was home to celebrities and Fortune 500 executives. His time on “the Miracle Mile” — Michigan Avenue in Chicago — resulted in chance meetings with Michael Jordan, Julia Roberts, and Denzel Washington, along with many others.  

Grabbing a cab or holding the door for the rich and famous taught Tim important lessons about servanthood. The students, faculty, and staff at Cedarville have been the beneficiaries.

“I’m a servant of the King of kings and Lord of lords, and I serve Him,” Tim said recently in an interview with Cedarville public relations. “When you serve, you may not be thanked, appreciated, or even noticed, but ultimately our service needs to be focused on Him.”

“What I do here on earth is service unto Him, and the Lord helped me see and understand that.”

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More to the Story

Hannah Abel, Tim’s daughter, lives the same servant mindset found in her dad.

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,550 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its Master of Ministry program, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University, visit  cedarville.edu.