Morse brings a fresh vision to FPC

Jan. 12 marked a new beginning for the First Presbyterian Church of Navasota. In this new year and new decade, Rev. Matthew Morse was officially installed as the new FPC pastor.

Morse’s family tree is firmly rooted in sharing the gospel. His great, great, great-grandfather was a circuit riding Methodist preacher from Mississippi who started a number of churches in Lee County. Both grandfathers were Baptist and Presbyterian ministers.

A Houston native, Morse graduated from the University of Texas, double majoring in history and religion, and from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Morse said of his own call to the ministry, “I think there was a sense that I was going that direction, that I was being called vocationally, and God’s call for my life was to be somehow involved in the church - at the very least ministering to folks in some capacity.”

Jokingly referring to himself as a ‘jack of all trades, master of none,’ Morse said, “Ministry, especially ordained ministry in the church, affords you the opportunity to bring gifts of teaching, preaching, building relations, community partnerships and pastoral care, the gamut of things I’m passionate about and enjoy doing and feel called toward, all in one place. It’s hard to find that anywhere else.”

Life experience

According to Morse, throughout college, seminary and his residencies, he seized every opportunity presented him. A summer clinical pastoral education at Brackenridge Hospital ministering to children and a patient population of transients, the uninsured and those with mental illness “kind of drove my passion for specifically ministering to folks with mental health concerns.”

After seminary, a residency at a church in Ann Arbor, Michigan awarded by the Lilly Foundation kept Morse in Michigan for several years. Upon returning to Texas, and without having received a call, he worked within the presbytery preaching, doing

church consulting and even helped his mother get a family-run franchise off the ground.

He ministered to the community through the local chamber of commerce, Rotary International, through advocacy boards and facilitating workshops on child sex abuse. Before accepting the call to FPC, Morse worked with mental health nonprofit, Innovative Alternatives that offered free behavioral therapy for anyone who was a victim of a crime regardless of how long ago it was.

Changing times, timeless

message

Temptations may present differently to each generation, but the themes of scripture are “consistently true.”

Morse said, “Evil is a reality. It will always be a reality. The devil is always going to reveal himself and disguise himself, in different ways. Historically, he always has, and he always will. But that doesn’t mean he’s anymore present now than he was at the beginning of time. The difference between now and the beginning of time is that at the cross Christ Jesus has the final say over the power of evil in the world.”

Morse continued, “I see on local, smaller levels recovery support groups are a light for people coming out of darkness. Churches can be a light for people coming out of darkness. Something like the Nehemiah Center which might not otherwise be available for folks who have kids in need of those afterschool programs and that care are a light for those kinds of things. The youth ministry that’s going on at First Baptist is a light for kids who otherwise might be going off and doing something else and getting themselves in trouble. I feel evil is real and is always present, but Christ has the final victory. Because of that I tend to see hope and light even in the knowledge that sin is always a temptation.”

He added, “You can be tempted but you don’t have to sin, but if you do and if you go down a bad route, God is always waiting for us to come back.”

Mission field

As for Navasota, Morse said, “This is a great place to be both in terms of the mission field because it’s growing, and there are scores of people that are going to be coming into Navasota in the next few years that will be looking for a church home or have not heard the gospel at all and need that for their life. That’s exciting!”

Morse said, “There’s been a lot of support since I got here. I also sense an excitement from all of the pastors about the growth that’s happening. It’s not a competition and everybody recognizes that. That’s something that I really appreciate about the pastors here. We know people are coming and there’s enough that are coming to fill all of our sanctuaries eventually. They just need to find the right fit for them and as long as they’re getting fed, that’s all anybody cares about.”

Hope, vision, discipleship

Morse looks forward to continuing joint activities with area churches such as Vacation Bible School (VBS) and the Christmas Music Program, perhaps by adding pulpit or choir swaps.

He said, “I want to build on what we’ve got. Part of the reason is those churches have certain strengths. This church doesn’t have an active youth group and we’re not going to develop one out of nothing.”

That can be accomplished through further development of the Nehemiah program, expanding children’s worship, and providing opportunities outside of VBS for families with children.

Other ideas include expanding the Sunday School curriculum, providing a unique area for young adults, and a midweek Bible study for retirees.

Morse said, “That’s my hope and that’s my vision - continuing to provide meaningful and theologically sound worship and continuing to engage the community in local missions as much as possible and in as many ways as possible.”

When it comes to meeting the needs of present and potential worshippers, Morse said, “Not everybody is in the same place in their journey as a disciple. You cannot assume you know because of how they look, what age they are or what their income is. We’re not in the business of keeping the doors open and lights on. We’re in the business of making disciples.”