Ty Coffee has been serving as the communication pastor at Alabaster’s Westwood Baptist Church for more than four years. The church recently received a donation of more than 3,000 pairs of shoes to ship to earthquake victims in Haiti.

City Servant Spotlight: Westwood Baptist Communication Pastor Ty Coffey

By Neal Wagner (Contact) | Alabaster Reporter

Published Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Several years ago, Ty Coffey did not foresee himself in the ministry.

But today, Coffey works every day to help spread God’s word, coordinate programs, maintain Web sites and fulfill many other roles at Alabaster’s Westwood Baptist Church off Alabaster Boulevard.

Coffey, an Alabaster native who now lives in Calera, has been working as the church’s communication pastor for more than four years, a job Coffey said is “very rewarding.”

“When I was 15 years old, I felt God calling me into the ministry,” Coffey said. “I ran from it for about six months. I had planned to go to law school originally then go into politics.

“But I absolutely love my job,” Coffey added.

Because Coffey routinely deals with people on a spiritual level, he said the rewards of his profession are “truly great.”

“You are making an eternal difference in peoples’ lives. When you lead someone to salvation, that is something that will last forever,” he said. “I absolutely love the people here. We get to do some really amazing things.”

Because Coffey fills a plethora of technical roles at the church, his job can also sometimes be challenging, he said.

“It’s challenging sometimes to do some of the technical things, because I didn’t go to school for that. But I’ve been doing pretty well so far,” Coffey said. “The church had a need, and I had an interest, so that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Part of Coffey’s job includes helping organize church events and projects, like a shoe drive the church is holding from Feb. 17-Feb. 21 to benefit earthquake victims in Haiti.

During the drive, the church will be collecting new and used shoes to donate to a Delaware-based organization called Shoes 2 Share, who will then ship them to Haiti.

“There were 800,000 orphans in Haiti before the earthquake,” Coffey said. “Because of all the carnage down there, there have been a lot of diseases spreading.

“Something as simple as having a pair of shoes to wear will keep a lot of people from getting those diseases.”

The church had more than 3,000 pairs of shoes donated before the drive began. Donors can bring shoes to the church until Feb. 21, and church officials will package and ship the shoes Feb. 24.

For more information about the church or the shoe drive, call 664-0122 or visit Ewestwood.org.

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