Pastor Matt has been the senior pastor at FBC since 2009. After growing up in Illinois, going to high school/college/seminary in Kentucky, and working as a hospital chaplain in South Carolina, he and his wife Kimberly have called Kansas home.

Pastor Matt has degrees from a Baptist school (Georgetown College in Kentucky), a Presbyterian school (Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary), and a UCC school (Chicago Theological Seminary), and is thankful for God’s diverse and colorful Church. He and First Baptist together have worked to meet food insecurity needs in the area, address affordable housing issues in Lawrence, and care for all of God’s creation. He has served in leadership roles with the Ministers Council of the Central Region helping to support fellow ministers across Kansas, and now serves in a similar way supporting fellow ministers across the nation as President of the ABCUSA Ministers Council. He is also the co-author of From Distrust to Trust: Controversies and Conversations in Faith Communities, a resource that recognizes the church’s need for authenticity and faith to build trust when issues threaten to divide.

Pastor Matt is a proud husband of a public school educator and father of two, and an avid hiker, trail runner, and lover of the outdoors.  He has been a Cubs fan since before they were good.