Member of the Month 

January 2007

Matt Teel

by: Tom Whitener

Matt Teel usually takes a back seat on the last row of the auditorium. That’s where he’s most comfortable. However, coming to Spring Hill Baptist Church doesn’t take a back seat in Matt’s life. In fact, it’s one place where he feels comfortable. Our January 2007 Member of the Month also “takes comfort” that this interview is not another Biology final. 

With his coursework concluded for another semester, this 20 year old is enjoying his time off, but he realizes that the “down time” is short-lived. Matt attends Marshall University as a sophomore, where he is taking a lot of science classes in the hopes to getting into pharmacy school or medical school. Matt laughs, “If it’s medical school, I’m going to have to get over the ‘blood’ thing.” 

Even though Matt currently lives on campus, he continues to make frequent weekend trips back to South Charleston. When asked for the purpose of his trips, Matt says, “So I can help out my mom (Connie) and live peacefully with my sister (Michelle)”.  

As an 8 year old, Matt participated in a 5-Day Club at the home of Ed and Lou Cook and marked the main points of the lesson in his Bible. After returning to his house, Matt  looked over the passages again, realized he was a sinner and asked Jesus to be his personal Savior. 

Matt has essentially spent his entire life in Spring Hill Baptist Church (since age three) and became a member in 2004.  He picks “The Old Rugged Cross” as his favorite hymn, but he also listens to Contemporary Christian artists like MercyMe.  Matt’s favorite scripture is John 15:15 because he can strongly “relate to the friendship aspect” of the verse.

Matt recently hosted a College & Career Sunday School Christmas party. Tim and Beth Pauley and their kids were included on the guest list that night. Matt explains, “Tim & Beth were there for me during my teen years. The party almost felt like a family reunion or one last fling for the old youth group.”  

Many of us would be wise to follow Matt’s example. We should look at the New Year as a time to build meaningful relationships when Spring Hill Baptist Church begins its “Families Reaching Families” efforts.

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