Matt became the senior pastor of LCC in September 2006. He was born and raised in suburban Chicago, Illinois. His vision for LCC is to make passionate disciples of Jesus Christ who will be agents of change. He was ordained as a minister in March 2007 by the Evangelical Church Alliance (ECA).
He received his B.A. in history from Carleton College, his M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and his M.Th. and Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Preaching to Second Generation Korean Americans: Towards a Possible Selves Contextual Homiletic (New York: Peter Lang, 2007) and has contributed articles, chapters, sermons, and reviews for several books and journals including The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching, Marriage at the Crossroads, and Leadership journal. In January 2008, Matt was invited to teach as the Sams Visiting Professor of Preaching at Gordon-Conwell on the topic of Preaching in the Asian-American Context.
Matt and Sarah are the parents of two boys, Ryan and Evan. Before coming to LCC, he worked in investment banking at Bank of America in New York City, served part-time in two pastoral capacities at Boston-area churches, and most recently taught as an adjunct faculty member at Gordon-Conwell. As for hobbies, he enjoys working out, reading, writing, playing basketball, and watching sports and movies.
Associate/Worship Pastor: Joe Chun
Joe was born in the Orange County area of California but grew up in the suburbs of Boston. After serving for five years at a church in the Boston area, he joined LCC’s pastoral staff in April 2009. He desires to see people’s lives transformed by the good news of Jesus Christ. After receiving a degree in sociology from Davidson College, he went on to receive an M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Joe and his wife, Peggy, have a son, Noah, and a yet-unnamed daughter on the way. They enjoy taking long family walks down the aisles of Target and Walmart.
Youth Pastor: Clifton Smith
Clifton was born on April 6, 1979. He was adopted
by his uncle and aunt and moved to inner-city
Seattle where he made many friends and enjoyed
his youth. He took up drawing at young age and
was featured in school art shows for his portraits
and renderings of athletes.
In 1994 he moved to suburban Aurora. The change of scene was unsettling but he got through it by making friends and playing on the high school football and basketball teams. He also ran track and was one of the schools top art and literature students.
He moved out from his parents home at age 18 and lived in down town Denver where he attended college. It was at this time that he also began attending LCC. He felt well-received at the church and grew in his knowledge of God and the Scriptures. He experienced God working in his life through short-term mission trips, a messianic Bible study group, and playing an active role in campus ministry.
Now a full-time student at Denver Seminary he and his wife, Lan, lead the youth ministry at LCC. In the future he hopes to continue to work with youth and perhaps teach the Hebrew roots of Christian faith. He also hopes to travel to Israel and work to reconcile relationships between Christians and Jews.
