U of A 2 Visiting Matty G

Anyway, I was onsite to visit with chaplain, church planter and campus group leader Matt Glombick .

I found him in his office on the sixth floor of the Student Union Building.



He has a nice setup with a killer view looking west as far as the eye can see.


He  has charisma to burn. One of our new breed of leaders, he is bright, thoughtful, engaging and creative. It is for good reason that he serves on the Mission Canada Campus Ministry guiding group. He is using his opportunities as a chaplain, pastor and ministry leader to full effect, as he charts out relatively uncharted pathways in engaging the university community.

 

As number of our campus ministers, Matt wears several different hats. As a chaplain, he has formal and administrational recognition. He is the pastor of Epic Church which meets on campus as a church and which is also a recognized student group on campus. To see more of what they are up to, check them out at
http://www.epicstudentchurch.com/

Matt has worked hard at building bridges within and amongst the U of A community. He is a key leader in mobilizing Christians to give leadership to initiatives of Making Poverty History. They have a close relationship with the MPH campus student group.

The Epic student group was actively and visibly involved in a high profile campus MPH event. Matt identified a point where the social concerns of Christians meshed in a strategic way with the concerns of many of the larger campus community. I believe he learned to trust his own heart and the direction God was leading him. Matt provides a good example of finding ‘common ground’ initiatives to further the Kingdom.


Check out  http://www.churchesmakingpovertyhistory.com/


We had a brief visit before his student team gathered to brainstorm and plan the upcoming services over pizza. As the team assembled, Matt began the session by asking them “what has inspired you this week”. Not only is it a good crowdbreaker, but it connects  his team as people - not merely co-functionaries. It also enabled them to share some of the things God has been doing and showing them. It’s good process. Vanessa, Calvin, Trent and Chad are a good team.


I appreciated the way Matt led the process. He had an outline, a skeleton of ingredients that he wanted in ‘the story’ as he planned the service. The students were familiar with the drill and felt free to make suggestions and flesh out the bones. Since the idea of Story is so strong at EPIC, it only makes sense that there are testimonies and interviews. In previous weeks, Matt interviewed the executive of the U of A Ski Club, the largest student group on campus. Last week he interviewed an old friend of his who had left the faith and become an atheist. They had plans to interview people from the M.S.A., the Muslim Student Association, on campus. This irenic stance reflects Matt’s confidence that all truth is God’s truth and all true truth points to the living God. It just needs to be set within the right Story.


Once the pizza was done, it was time for the team to set up for the Tuesday evening service…..