Welcome

Hi!

My name is Matthew Messenger and I am Pastor of Mechanicsville Presbyterian Church, part of the  PC(USA). While I am what has been termed as a “second career pastor”, I prefer to think of this not as a second career, but as living into my calling to serve the church in ministry. I have a passion for working with people as we explore the intersection of faith development and personal experience and how young people and their families navigate those experiences.

A little of my story: I have been married to my wife, Stephanie, for over 20 years, and we have 4 children together.  She and I have been engaged in youth ministry in the Presbyterian Church since 2010. In my early college years, I worked with Young Life and the Young Life Middle School program before getting married and entering the workforce full time. I came back into youth work through the Boy Scout program where I served as a den leader and in other volunteer positions, originally for my oldest son, and now for all of my children.

In 2010, I began volunteering as a High School Youth Group leader and have been engaged in that ministry and work since. In 2011, I graduated from George Mason University with a Masters degree in History and in 2013, I began my studies at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond. I graduated from Union in 2017 with a Masters degree in Divinity and later that year completed the last of my ordination exams. Following the exam completions, I met with my CPM and was certified ready to receive a call.

I was ordained and installed February 29th, 2020 and began serving my community the next day. As you may remember, on March 14, 2020, we thought we would be shutting down for 2 weeks to allow the pandemic to burn itself out. Little did we know, we started a new journey into unknown territories that day. It has been and remains a rewarding and interesting journey.

I believe that faith development is a lifelong process, and that the church is central to that development. I believe that it is fundamental that as people engage in asking questions and exploring the world around them, the church is a place that allows them to explore what it is that they believe, explore how and why we practice our beliefs in the ways that we do, and most importantly, that we show that the church is a place where they belong and they are loved.