YouTuber Luke Nichols, who abruptly vanished from the platform earlier this year, is taking on a high-level role inside one of the world's largest faith communities.
On Tuesday (Dec. 9), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that the Outdoor Boys founder has been appointed as one of fourteen men on their Young Men General Advisory Council.
Through a statement, the church says the men “will assist the Young Men General Presidency as they counsel with other general and local Church leaders to teach, serve and watch over the young men of the Church.” Per the church, Nichols and the 13 others began serving on December 1.
Nichols' appointment happens not long after his unexpected exit from YouTube earlier in the year.
In a video uploaded in May titled “Goodbye,” Nichols looked back on his journey as a YouTube creator for the past 11 years and lamented that "even good things can be taken too far," explaining that his extreme outdoors channel's growth reshaped his daily life.
“The sheer volume of fans trying to contact me, trying to take pictures with me, or just trying to come up and talk to me in public, could be a bit overwhelming at times,” he said near the 1:11 mark in the video linked here. “My wife and I—we both have real concerns about what this will do to our family if I keep growing my YouTube channel at this pace. And the time to stop is before this problem gets so out of hand that my family and I can't live normal lives.”
He added, “I've spent so much time focusing on me and my family and growing my business. It's time to step back and focus on helping other people for a change, and I'm excited to see where that takes me.”