| Dr. Matthew Lee Smith & wife Melodee Joy Smith |
| Copyright 2008 | First Baptist Church of Palos Verdes | 28 Moccasin Lane, Rolling Hills Estates, California 90274 | 310.378.1253 |
First Baptist Church
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| Sunday Mornings at 11:00am |
is love...
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Pastoral Staff
Pastor Matt was born in Madison, Wisconsin on August 2, 1957. At the age of four his family
(deceased in 1985), was the publisher of the local weekly newspaper, The Lodi Enterprise. Being
savior until senior high school. As a sophomore, Steve Foemmel, his history teacher, shared The
Four Spiritual Laws with him. In Steve's high school office, Matthew prayed to receive Jesus Christ
as Savior and put Christ on the Throne of his life as Lord.
Changes happened to him quickly. Soon Lucho Zuzunaga, the high school Spanish teacher, asked
for help to begin a teen Bible study. 40-50 teens soon met for study each week. Matthew began
attending Steve's church, the Lake Wisconsin Community Evangelical Free Church in Lodi and
became a member. While at the church, Pastor Myron Higby challenged him to consider full-time
Christian service. After a trip to the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, Illinois and Trinity College in
Deerfield, Illinois, he began to pray over God's will for his life. God called Matthew to Moody. It was
at Moody that he surrendered to the call of God for ministry in a chapel service.
(deceased in 1985), was the publisher of the local weekly newspaper, The Lodi Enterprise. Being
savior until senior high school. As a sophomore, Steve Foemmel, his history teacher, shared The
Four Spiritual Laws with him. In Steve's high school office, Matthew prayed to receive Jesus Christ
as Savior and put Christ on the Throne of his life as Lord.
Changes happened to him quickly. Soon Lucho Zuzunaga, the high school Spanish teacher, asked
for help to begin a teen Bible study. 40-50 teens soon met for study each week. Matthew began
attending Steve's church, the Lake Wisconsin Community Evangelical Free Church in Lodi and
became a member. While at the church, Pastor Myron Higby challenged him to consider full-time
Christian service. After a trip to the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, Illinois and Trinity College in
Deerfield, Illinois, he began to pray over God's will for his life. God called Matthew to Moody. It was
at Moody that he surrendered to the call of God for ministry in a chapel service.
part-time youth pastor and as a missionary pastor where they served for many years.
God brought about a life-changing step in Matthew and Melodee's life when the couple accepted the call to East Los Angeles County. This was
a time of great growth and development from a leadership standpoint for them. Turning around a dying church in an Hispanic community,
the next 11 years allowed them to teach and train countless leaders in the Southwest and Mexico through leadership conferences and
consulting opportunities. While there, Matthew earned his Masters of Arts in Ministry in Chicago and his Doctor of Philosophy in Christian
Theology in Southern California.
Dr. Smith has since pastored churches in Iowa and Florida. These opportunities allowed them to expand God's Kingdom and reach out with
mission teams throughout the United States, Mexico and France.
Matthew's habit of rising early to read the Bible and prayer has been a source of great strength and understanding when it comes to
leadership development. He reads the Bible at least once per year cover to cover. He enjoys an intimate, spiritual walk with God, enjoying
hundreds of answers to prayer every quarter, and hundreds of new insights monthly from God's Word (having read it cover-
to-cover some 22 times since 1993). It is his habit to label and file each insight topically for future retrieval for messages. Currently he has
some 10,000 plus topical observations from the Bible that are a direct result of God's intimate work during his devotional time.
God brought about a life-changing step in Matthew and Melodee's life when the couple accepted the call to East Los Angeles County. This was
a time of great growth and development from a leadership standpoint for them. Turning around a dying church in an Hispanic community,
the next 11 years allowed them to teach and train countless leaders in the Southwest and Mexico through leadership conferences and
consulting opportunities. While there, Matthew earned his Masters of Arts in Ministry in Chicago and his Doctor of Philosophy in Christian
Theology in Southern California.
Dr. Smith has since pastored churches in Iowa and Florida. These opportunities allowed them to expand God's Kingdom and reach out with
mission teams throughout the United States, Mexico and France.
Matthew's habit of rising early to read the Bible and prayer has been a source of great strength and understanding when it comes to
leadership development. He reads the Bible at least once per year cover to cover. He enjoys an intimate, spiritual walk with God, enjoying
hundreds of answers to prayer every quarter, and hundreds of new insights monthly from God's Word (having read it cover-
to-cover some 22 times since 1993). It is his habit to label and file each insight topically for future retrieval for messages. Currently he has
some 10,000 plus topical observations from the Bible that are a direct result of God's intimate work during his devotional time.
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The heart of
| Phone: 310-378-1253 | Email: FirstBaptistPV@yahoo.com |