Mattew Shinn believes this is the most divisive society has ever been, but he hopes to create a sense of unity and community at First Baptist Church.
“That’s our hope is for people to experience Christ, experience his love and with that it means there may be differences of opinion, but those are welcome here,” Shinn said.
Shinn, a Colorado native, struggled with how religion handled certain situations when he was young. When he was 14, a member of his family suffered from mental illnesses. Shinn did not agree with the church’s response.
“There were some students and some staff members that would say if you guys would have more faith this wouldn’t happen, and that rubbed me the wrong way,” Shinn said.
He said he never had a problem with God, but he was weary of Christianity.
It wasn’t until Shinn attended college that he began to explore the Bible. He said the scripture spoke to him, and he believes that God put him on the path to ministry.
“I fell in love with the church, I fell in love with the relational ministry of the church. I fell in love with the goodness the church can bring to helping those who are hurting,” Shinn said.
Shinn later attended seminary school in Denver.
After graduating, Shinn began searching for the perfect location to begin his career. He and his wife longed to move to Longmont for years and it all came together when his friend Nathan May — interim pastor at First Baptist Church — told him the First Baptist Church was looking to hire a full-time pastor.
“We had some other options, we even had some other offers for jobs in various places across the country. But we decided to come here, because we wanted to be in a place where we can love and serve the community well,” Shinn said.
Shinn’s first goal as a pastor is to create a loving relationship with his congregation and the Longmont community.
“We are a church in the heart of the community, the heart of Longmont, and I want us to have a heart for Longmont. My hope for this church is to really truly be a presence in the community that cares well,” Shinn said.
Shinn has only been the full time pastor at New Baptist church for a week, but he is already trying to connect with the surrounding community. He is meeting with other pastors from other churches to really get a sense of the culture here in Longmont.
“How can we be present in this community, and help this community out. There are others who have been doing it a long time. It appears to be a pretty tight knit family,” Shinn said.
Shinn believes that his tumultuous path with religion has only made his faith stronger. He hopes to build a community for those who might not believe, or those who have been hurt by religion.
“I also think that this can be a place where you belong before you necessarily believe. There’s many of us who have grown up and been hurt by religion, and maybe specifically hurt by the Chirstian church, but that’s not the God I see in the scriptures,” Shinn said.
