Matt was born and raised in Alpena where a co-worker challenged him to read the Bible for himself during his junior year of high school. Several months later, while he was reading it for the second time, the Lord graciously led him to repent of his sin and trust Jesus as his crucified Savior and resurrected Lord. Shortly thereafter Matt moved to Mt. Pleasant to attend college where he immediately got involved with a young church plant that was dedicated to reaching the community, and especially college-aged students with the gospel. About a year later Matt became a part-time staff member, and then served on staff full-time for several years in a variety of roles. During this time he met his wife Ericka, got married, and quickly had two boys and two girls (now three). In 2009 Matt and his family moved back to Alpena to help people know Jesus better. Shortly thereafter Matt became the Senior Pastor of a small local church, where he served for 6 years before serving as one of the planting elders of Fresh Water Bible Church where he spends most of his time leading and feeding God’s people through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.