Welcome, Matthew and Family!

Matthew Hale became the new resident minister at The Church of Christ at Forest Hill and delivered his first sermon on Sunday, January 19, 2020. Members are delighted that Matt has chosen to pastor and lead our church family into the future.

Matthew (Matt) and family are relocating to our Cleveland Heights community from the Washington, D.C. area, where he worked as a Teaching Fellow at a local University. Matthew is completing his Ph.D. in Systematic and Historical Theology. Alison, his wife of six-plus years is a stay-at-home mom. Alison has her BA and MA in English literature. Ezra, well he works at keeping everyone smiling while keeping his parents constantly on the move!

Matt has shared that initially, his ministry will focus on building relationships by becoming more than just acquainted with our members, their families, their friends, and their neighbors. Matt has indicated that it is through these channels that traditionally the church has grown and will most likely be the way our congregation will also grow into our future. Needless to say, this approach will provide us with a wonderful platform to live out our mission of “Loving like Jesus, serving like Jesus and teaching others to do the same!”

When asked, “What would you like for your legacy to be?” Matt responded, “I would like for my legacy to be one of love… the love of God, love of truth, love of the church, love of God’s beautiful creation, love of people who are different from me, and love for the ‘least of these’. Love is humble and willing to suffer, if needed, for the good of others. Love always thinks about what is good for the other person. With God’s help, I’d like that to be the center of my life. I’d like to be part of a church that makes this kind of love the center of its life.” And Matt, so would we! Matt, Alison, and Ezra WELCOME to our community and to our church family.

Please join us every Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. for Sunday School; 10:30 a.m. for Worship; 5:00 p.m. for Family Fellowship (Leaning on Jesus and Each Other) and Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. for Bible Study.