Who is Tim Hanley...

Tim Hanley was born and raised in the New Jersey suburbs of NYC. At the age of 16, after a powerful encounter with the mercy of Christ, he knew he had to serve the LORD. This is when he met the other men who would later begin Hard as Nails Ministries Inc. A recruited D1 college football player, Tim went on to play in the Ivy League. He used this experience of "teamwork" and "commitment" in order to found a college faith community marked by a three-fold devotion to the Blessed Mother, to the Holy Father, and to Our Eucharistic Lord. This community, called SOULDIERS MINISTRY, continues to grow with men and women whose hearts burn with a zeal to be apostles to their campuses. When the LORD called Tim to give up his love - football - in order to devote his full time to “Kingdom business,” he struggled to yield to the Spirit, but grace abounded and he began the next step of his great adventure of the life of faith.

After graduating from Cornell University, Tim discerned the religious life as a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal. He spent one year living among and serving the poor and suffering in Harlem, Bronx, and Newark, NJ. The experience of relying on others’ generosity just for the basic needs of life was not only humbling, but enlightening for Tim. This was a tremendous opportunity to retreat from the battlefield of the world, and enter the battlefield of his own soul. As the year of formation unfolded, it became quite apparent to Tim that the greatest battle he would ever fight is that of the interior self… the battle for sainthood which we are all called to fight. His passion for urban outreach was cultivated in the inner city, and his heart still beats for the streets.

During this time of formation as a Franciscan friar, it became clearer over time that the LORD was calling him back into the world in order to work to "sanctify the secular." Inspired by his hero, the Great Pope John Paul II, he now seeks to renew the church and the world as a lay evangelist, traveling and preaching to young people all across the world. When not on the road, you can find him in the streets surrounding his office in Newark, NJ - bringing hope to an area infested with gangs, drugs, sex, and violence.

As the spark of the Caribbean mission, Tim has developed the international component of Hard as Nails, founding communities and establishing outreaches on various Caribbean islands. In addition to the international missions however, Tim also has a passion for the mission to reclaim the masculine identity in Christ. His dream is to see a RENEWAL of authentic manhood in both the Church and the world. He also attests to the fact that the first place he fights to see manhood redeemed is in his own heart, in his own soul, in his own life. Tim's versatility and ability to engage various audiences has had him sitting on faith discussion panels at Ivy League universities, inspiring incarcerated youth in the Bronx NYC, and preaching Christ anywhere in between. Invite him to your event and you will most certainly be blessed by his authenticity, his passion, and his apostolic zeal for souls!