One of my concerns for the church in North America today is that local churches are too disconnected from one another. While there are several highly visible churches, many of the people in our local churches have relatively little awareness of what is going on in modest congregations like the Red Brick Church in Stillman Valley, IL.
In the coming weeks, I have asked several pastors to introduce us to their churches.
I met Matt Mitchell through the Internet. And, I have appreciated stopping by his blog. It is so exciting for me to read an interview like this one and know that all over our great country, there are pastors raising families and churches that are all about Christ. Notice that Matt has been the pastor of his church for over 12 years. Congratulations! There is a great story at the end of this post. You can read more about it over on Matt’s blog.
Make no mistake: faithful churches like this one are the backbone of our country.
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Tell us where your church is at geographically and give us your web site.
Lanse Evangelical Free Chuch is located in Central Pennsylvania parked along Interstate 80 about 130 miles from the Ohio border. We’re just up over the mountain from Penn State University. A lot of our folks work in the trucking industry.
How long have you been the pastor there?
I’ve been the pastor at LEFC since 1998 (a dozen years!). I’m the longest serving pastor that this church has had in its 118 year history.
Tell us about your family.
My wife is Heather. She is an amazing woman, full of wisdom and beauty. We’ve got 4 kids: Robin (age 9.5), Andrew (age 8), Peter (age 6), and Isaac (age 5). You read it right. That’s 4 in 4 years! We homeschool, live on 5 wooded acres, heat with wood, keep chickens, and play a lot. We also love to read.
Is there a blog or web site where we can read more about you?
My blog is matt-mitchell.blogspot.com. It’s called "Hot Orthodoxy" and it’s about loving the Lord with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength. And there are pictures of our family up there, too.
What is the theological or denominational heritage of your church? Is that identity changed?
We’re a part of the Evangelical Free Church of America. Originally a merger of Swedish (like our church) and Norwegian/Danish churches in 1950, it has truly become an "all-people" association of churches. Our mission statement is : glorifying God by multiplying healthy churches among all people. We are gospel-centered and own the seminary called Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the Chicago area.
Are there any other pastoral staff?
I’m it! We’ve had some great ministry interns here over the years, but I’m the only pastor for about 130 worshipers on a Sunday (more than that call this church home).
Briefly, what is your approach to preaching? Do you topical series? Book by book?
I try to vary the diet of preaching, but the main course is book by book expositional preaching.
I take breaks from that to preach topical series (even those are expositional, though!). This last Summer we did one on Money.
I’ve got a long-term plan of preaching through the Big Story of the Old Testament. In odd numbered years, we do the next big book that carries on the narrative. Genesis (2003), Exodus (2005), Numbers (2007), Joshua (2009), etc.
My goal is to feed my people the solid food of the Word and watch them grow!
What is currently being preached on at your church? Can we listen online?
We’re in the Gospel of Luke right now, have been since September. Will be all year. Then we’ll go to Acts.
You can read the manuscripts on my blog: matt-mitchell.blogspot.com and we podcast the audio here: http://www.sermoncloud.com/lanse-evangelical-free-church/
What style of music do you use as a part of your worship service?
We have a worship team that leads us in contemporary music and traditional hymns which are projected on a screen up front. We also have a song leader who leads us in hymns from the hymnal. We’re not that exciting–no drums! But we do have guitars, bass, keyboard, and a number of voices in the worship choir. We sing popular songs that are playing on Christian radio (Chris Tomlin), a lot of Sovereign Grace Music (Bob Kauflin), and almost always an older song or two. My favorite is when we sing "voices only!" That’s the best instrument of worship.
Why should someone who lives in your area and is looking for a church home think about visiting your church?
We are trying to follow Christ. Our church exists to glorify God by bringing people into a love relationship with Jesus Christ through worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service.
We’re nothing too fancy, but we are real. And we’re a loving bunch of folks–loved by Christ and learning to love others.
Tell us about one memory or incident from your church in which you believe God was glorified and you and your flock experienced joy.
I never expected to share the gospel with Craig “Tiny” Older. Tiny, a professional tattoo artist and a biker, weighed more than 500 pounds and came from a Jewish background. Needless to say, Tiny and I didn’t have much in common except that his wife attended our church.
When Tiny was in the hospital a few years ago, I went to visit. I thought it would be a quick “in-and-out” because he had never shown signs of spiritual interest. But Tiny knew that his condition was serious, and he surprised me by asking for the gospel. That began an adventurous relationship for me—making friends with and making a disciple of a Jewish biker tattoo artist.
When my friend Tiny finally died in 2006, I had the privilege of speaking at his memorial. His entire biker gang, a scary-looking bunch, showed up for the service. But our people never missed a beat. They opened their arms wide. They made our visitors a meal, sat right next to them and welcomed each one.
Standing behind Tiny’s Harley®, up front in our church, I had the opportunity to share the gospel. That was the highlight of my ministry year.
-Matt Mitchell
