BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Matthew Page already knew that he was in the right place because it’s where God wanted him to be, but he has received confirmation from the people of Starke and Bradford County, who have given him and his family a warm welcome.
Page is the new pastor at First Baptist Church of Starke. He said he, his wife of 11 years, Heather, and their two children — 8-year-old Hudson and 7-year-old Emmeline — feel right at home. In fact, Page joked that his family has been the recipient of so many cakes and pies that he’s got to get into the gym and work out.
“They love on you really well in this community,” Page said, adding, “The love that’s in the community has been overwhelming for my family, not just from First Baptist Church of Starke, but from Starke itself.”
It’s quite a different experience for Page, who served in the ministry at Brentwood Baptist Church for 13 years. Brentwood, Tennessee, is a suburb of Nashville. Interactions with people there are different, Page said, pointing out that it’s not a knock against the people of Nashville. It’s just that the culture in Nashville is different.
“One of the things I am adjusting to is in a big city, you ask somebody how they’re doing, they’re like, ‘Oh, I’m good.’ Then they’ll go on home and shut the door,” Page said. “Here, it’s a 20-, 30-, 40-minute or an hour conversation. I wasn’t used to that in Nashville. People don’t give you that time.”
Page said Starke gives him a feeling of nostalgia, reminding him of his time as a youth when he grew up on a farm in Jackson, Tennessee.
Starke also gives him a feeling of purpose. That comes from seeing statistics of the number of churched people and the number of unchurched people in the area. In fact, Page had his sights set on Florida as a state to make a move to because the North American Mission Board classifies the entire state as a “Send City,” or a place where the number of unchurched people is greater than the number of churched.
“I took a mission journey here (in Florida) years ago and just immediately connected with and felt drawn to the area,” Page said.
Page wasn’t immediately drawn to a career in ministry, but that, too, is exactly where God wanted him.
Mission trip leads to prayer about future
In Jackson, Tennessee, Page grew up on a farm that produced such things as cotton, hay, beans and corn. He said he wasn’t required to do a lot of work on the farm, especially since he played football for the private school he went to. Still, there were times where he pitched in. He remembered helping his grandfather pick cotton.
Page didn’t have a lot of down time. He said if he did, it would be filled with doing something.
“I come from a family of hard workers,” he said. “There was always stuff that my mom and dad had me do. They felt like when you got bored, that’s when you got into trouble. I never had an opportunity to get bored.”
After graduating from high school, Page attended Union University, a private Southern Baptist school in his hometown. From there, he went to Nashville to attend law school.
“I tell the joke all the time — and it’s true — that ever since I saw my first episode of ‘Matlock,’ I wanted to be a lawyer,” Page said. “I wanted to be a criminal defense attorney.”
While in law school, Page, who was attending Brentwood Baptist Church, went on a mission trip to Hong Kong. It was his first-ever trip outside of the U.S. In fact, most of Page’s life up to that point had been spent in Tennessee. Before making the 19-hour trip to Hong Kong, Page had been on a plane once. That was to take a trip to Disney World.
That alone would make such a trip impactful. In the end, the trip proved to be life changing.
“The spirit just wrecked me,” Page said. “I had never seen such poverty. I had never seen a need like that.”
Page was led to pray, asking God how He wanted to use him. He knew he could reach a lot of people as an attorney, but was that really the role he was meant to occupy?
“The more I began to pray and work with a mentor, the Lord made it clear that ministry was where I was supposed to be,” Page said. “I dropped out of law school and surrendered to full-time ministry.”
Page said it was the hardest decision he had to make. He admitted that he didn’t immediately accept what he believed God was telling him to do.
“It was met with resistance and push back,” Page said. “I wrestled with the Lord a long time, but then just determined I would be blatantly disobedient if I did not surrender to full-time ministry.
“Many people ask me, ‘Well, couldn’t you have just stayed in law school and finished? You were so close.’ Probably, but if I had done that, I would never be where I am today.”
Tennessee to Florida
His path into the ministry began with receiving some education through a residency type program at Brentwood Baptist. He then enrolled at an extension center of Louisville, Kentucky’s Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
“After I got most of my basics out of the way, I transferred to Liberty (University) and graduated from there,” Page said.
Page served as children’s minister for six years at Brentwood Baptist’s main church. He was then part of the effort to launch a satellite church in metro Nashville, working there as a minister for seven years.
“In 2019, I went on sabbatical,” Page said. “The Lord really began to reveal to me — ‘There’s something more for you.’ I felt the calling to be a senior pastor or lead pastor.”
Page said he heard from some other churches and had one door of opportunity open to him, but it wasn’t the right opportunity. He visited First Baptist and Starke last winter and preached at the church in March. He received a 97-percent affirmation to become the church’s new pastor.
“That rarely ever happens in a Baptist church. That was encouraging to me,” Page said.
His first service as official pastor was Easter.
Page said one of his favorite books of the Bible is Amos.
“He was just a sheep herder who God called to proclaim and demonstrate the gospel and share the news,” Page said. “I can identify with that guy. I am just a common man, an ordinary guy who got his call to work for the kingdom.”
One of Page’s favorite Bible verses is Isaiah 40:31. The King James Version reads: “But they that wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
“What I love about that passage is we have to be utterly and totally dependent on God for everything — strength, sustenance, life,” Page said.
Becoming part of the community
As a new pastor, Page, of course, wants to be involved in the community he’s working and living in. He wants his family to become immersed in the community.
It doesn’t stop there, though. He wants First Baptist Church of Starke to be a good neighbor — to identify needs and help meet them.
“I’ve told our community leaders — however they need us, we’re available,” Page said, adding, “You let us know what you need from us. We’re here to walk with you and partner with you.”
Page believes reaching out to community members and being active in the community are ways of eventually bringing people to church. He said it’s not like in the past when people simply showed up every time the church doors were open. He found that out during his ministerial experiences in Tennessee.
“Being born and raised in a very traditional Southern Baptist church, I was used to doing ministry one certain way,” Page said. “Open up the doors, invite people to come, provide events, and that would be it.
“I learned in Nashville that’s not how you get people to church. You have to build a relationship with them. You do life with them. At some point, when there’s a crisis, they’ll reach out. That opened the door for me to share the gospel and invite them to church.”
Starke may be quite different from Nashville, but Page said the philosophy is the same.
“I don’t think we really live in a culture where people are just going to come to church for the sake of coming to church, especially my generation,” Page said. “I’m Gen X. Some people label me as a Millennial.
“Yes, you invite them, but’s going to take you being in the trenches, getting messy and doing life with them long before they walk in the doors, because you have to really earn the right to be heard and to share the gospel.”
First Baptist handed out free bottles of water at the city of Starke’s July 3 Splash Bash and hosted a school-supply backpack giveaway on Aug. 6.
Page said he wants the church to have a “serving Saturday” every eight weeks. What that would entail is aiding local businesses or organizations. Church members might weed flower beds or do some painting, for example.
“I think by going into the community and building relationships and not asking for anything in return will help build back up the local church,” Page said.
