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Rev. Matthew T. JohnsonRev. Johnson grew up on a farm in Boonville, NC. Son of a family of tobacco farmers, Matthew embraced the value of hard work and southern hospitality. As a boy, Matthew's mother recalls the time he attended Vacation Bible School at Mt. Herman Church and how he “took over” the presentation of all that the kids had learned that week. Her claim is that the woman sitting behind her predicted that Matthew “would be a fine preacher one day!” Matthew never believed that he would serve God in the capacity of a pastor.
After graduating from Surry Community College in 2012, he decided to further his education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. At first, he thought he was going to work as a chemist or researcher, but God had different plans! Shortly after starting at UNCG, Matthew joined the Wesley-Luther Campus Ministry. It was during this time that his life would forever be changed and where he would see that God’s calling for him was to become a UM minister. This was a shift in Matthew’s life for many reasons, but one of the most significant was because he joined the UMC. Matthew had been raised as a Southern Baptist. Uncertain of what the future was going to hold, Matthew finished out his B.S. in Biochemistry and held various leadership positions in the campus ministry. Once he embraced his calling to go to seminary, Matthew decided to first complete a B.A. in Religious Studies. After concluding his degrees at UNCG in 2016, Matthew and his wife, Lindsay, married and moved to Atlanta, GA so that he might earn a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. This seminary education took three years to achieve, during which time Matthew spent time with vulnerable people at Gwinnett Medical Center as a chaplain, served as the ministry intern at The Table Atlanta, and became the student pastor of Campbellton United Methodist Church. Matthew knew that he was meant to serve God in NC so, after his seminary education was complete, the destination was clear as day! The Western North Carolina Conference of the UMC felt that Matthew’s gifts and talents would best serve Glencoe and so he was appointed pastor in July 2019. In 2022, he was further blessed to have a second charge added and now serves Fairgrove UMC in Reidsville as well. Matthew loves to get to know people, hear their stories, and learn from everyone’s life experience. His door is always open to anyone who would like to speak with him. In 2012, Matthew met Lindsay, who, unbeknownst to him at first, would later become his life partner and wife, in the very same campus ministry at UNCG. She also graduated with both a B.A. and M.A. from UNCG. Lindsay and Matthew have been married since 2016 and live with their boxer-terrier, Gracie and American Domestic-Norwegian Forest Cat mix, Otter. Pastor Matthew's Current Reading List:Did you know that Pastor Matthew reads in his "spare" time? He is always trying to learn and read. If you would like to read alongside, feel free to let him know! He would love to engage with you, your questions, concerns, comments.
Half Truths by Adam Hamilton
Making Sense of the Bible by Adam Hamilton Permission Granted by Jennifer Grace Bird John Wesley's Sermons: An Anthology ed. by Albert C. Outler & Richard Heitzenrater Inspired by Rachel Held Evans |
