Matt came to Grace with his family when he was at the age for confirmation and youth group. They had moved to Wenatchee and started at Celebration Lutheran, but switched to Grace because there were more young people there. The confirmation class for Matt and his twin, Katrina, would have been small and there would be fewer opportunities to be with kids their age at Celebration. As soon as they became part of Grace’s youth group, Matt began to feel a part of Grace, and that it was a church to call home.

As a high school student, Matt was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, and this was a time in his life when his relationship with Grace was cemented. He recalled Beth and Pastor James going to Seattle to visit him, even joking that they had really come to see Russell Wilson, the Seattle Seahawks star who visited Seattle Children’s Hospital. Matt felt the support of his Grace family as he went through this difficult time even though he was not able to go to church for a while after his return from Seattle Children’s due to a compromised immune system.

The love and acceptance that Grace has for all people and the statement recently adopted to reflect this are a large part of why Matt feels his values are reflected in the values of Grace. He gave the example of our support of the LGBTQ community as showing that people of Grace live their faith with love. He also spoke about the volunteerism and reaching out to those in need that are important to him and a large part of the Grace Lutheran commitment. He feels that as a congregation we do a good job of this, and it is his hope that this continues. Matt was part of a campus Christian group at Western Washington University while a student there, and because he felt they needed to be more involved in making the community better by volunteer projects, he took a leadership role and initiated that.

After graduating from Western in March, Matt has begun his first “real job” in Oak Harbor, Washington. He’s temporarily living with a relative as he settles in, and he is looking for a church over there. To get suggestions for a Lutheran church in Oak Harbor, he talked to Beth to see if she had any suggestions. He has also maintained contact with the congregation through the youth group alumni, and appreciated the Zoom meetings during the lockdown. It is evident in speaking with Matt that Grace Lutheran has had an impact on his faith and his life.