​Meet Pastor Matt Stone & His Family

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I’m a 7th generation Texan who married a Johns Creek girl and got to Atlanta as fast as I could!  Margaret and I met at Southern Methodist University, where I was in seminary after completing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Religious Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. After completing my Master of Divinity at SMU, Margaret and I got married, graduated and I was commissioned as an Elder within 2 weeks in the summer of 2007.  Our first pastoral role was in campus ministry at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas (Margaret always wanted to live on Central Park in Manhattan!).  Our first role serving the local church was in Kingwood, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston and birthplace to both of our children: Charlotte, who just turned 14 and Jackson, who is about to turn 13.

 

After serving as an Associate Pastor for 4 years and launching a new worship community within Kingwood Methodist Church, I became the second Lead Pastor of Dayspring Methodist in Tyler, Texas.  Tyler was a great community for our young family, and an extraordinary season of ministry as we saw significant growth in the church and launched a second campus.  

 

As much as we loved Tyler, we began discerning God’s call in 2019 to move to Georgia.  Margaret grew up in Johns Creek (before it was called Johns Creek!) and we longed for our children to grow up surrounded by extended family and in a city that offers such a beautiful vision of Kingdom diversity.  We are amazed at how quickly North Atlanta has become our permanent home! Since arriving, I completed a Doctor of Ministry at Emory University, served as an Associate Pastor at Dunwoody UMC, and as Lead Pastor at Peachtree City UMC. We’re looking forward to seeing all that God has in store for our family in this next season of ministry!