Nathan Mattia

• Hanley Road Campus Elder

Background

• Education
  B.S. in Middle School Education from Southwest Baptist University, 1999 Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Covenant Theological Seminary, 2005 The Bloodthirsty Streets of Wamego Kansas, 1983-1994
• Family
  Amy Mattia is my love and understanding. She's also the backbone of Administration at the Journey. Her uncommon beauty, sharp wit, and taste in men attracted me to her immediately, and we were married after a courtship of only 7 months. Emerson Anthony Mattia is our 1 year old son. He is the happiest kid we've ever seen and we love him to death. Emerson's principle hobbies are hanging out, being awesome and, when necessary, taking care of business. Anthony Mattia is an Italian, Southern Baptist Pastor who grew up Catholic in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He is also a Southern Sympathizer and an expert in the Great Awakening revivals in the UK. Twila Mattia is the office manager of a power plant. She likes the history as well, consenting to spend her 1974 honeymoon with Anthony camping at Civil War Battlefields. Which means she is also a saint. Patrick Mattia is my younger brother by 13.5 years. Some people call that an accident. I call it AWESOME. He is a Sophomore at SBU and will someday rock the world of Music Education.

Questions

• What is your favorite bible verse?
  1 John 3. "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." This is kind of the essence of the concept of "Already, but not yet," but connected with our salvation.
• What is following Jesus like these days?
  On one hand it is very exciting and victorious as Jesus teaches me more and more that I am a Son and not a slave to my idols. On the other hand, being un-distracted and vulnerable enough to the Spirit to actually conquer the idols in my life is difficult business. Submitting to Jesus moment by moment, rather than my idols is not as easy as I would like. But it keeps me humble.
• How long have you been at The Journey?
  Amy and I have been at the Journey since the summer of 2002. We were a part of the launch team.
• What ministry are you involved in?
  Currently I am a campus elder at Hanley Road. My role is to shepherd and take care of our members. I am also in charge of our Gospel Class.
• What is hard and/or good about serving at The Journey?
  I am totally humbled and excited that God has chosen me to love on the people of Hanley Road. The size of the Journey, which can be hard to manage, is made more palatable by the size of our campus, which is just right for me. I love that we have people coming to Hanley from extremely different backgrounds and life-stages and ethnic groups. I really love that Jesus loves us all.

Favorites

• Books: Just finished Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Tremendous. A LOT there about leadership and how societies treat kids and plan for the future. Reading From Dawn to Decadence by Jaques Barzun. Actually, I've been reading this for 9 years now, but am determined to finish before 2010. Brilliant work about the last 500 years of Western History. Barzun displays a VAST knowledge of culture, art, history, and finance. While he tells the story chronologically in general, it's not year by year, but rather city by city, movement by movement, or person by person. The Lord of the Rings trilogy. What can I say that hasn't already been said? Voted THE book of the 20th Century. If you've only seen the films, you're missing out.
• Bands: Current I'm really digging Blind Pilot, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, the Weepies, and Via Audio right now. I'm a bit late to the party with Yo La Tengo and Cat Power, aren't I? All time favorites. The Black Crowes, Waterdeep and Ben Folds (Five or otherwise) will always make my insides warm.
• Restaurants: Chinese: Yen Ching, across from the Galleria. Looks a bit shabby, but kicks the crap out of PF Chang any day of the week. The Cardinals' players agree. Crepes/Breakfast: Crepes in the City, downtown. Awesome crepes, reasonable prices, hip atmosphere. Plus you can get great coupons for them at Restaurant.com Hip/Upscale: Moxy Bistro Great spot in the Central West End and great food for not as much as you would expect. Amy and I have hit this for several special occasions and have not been disappointed.

So, Tell Me...

• Where did you grow up? Was a fairly charmed experience in Wamego, Kansas. I remember a lot of BMX bikes, explosives, and ninja clubs. Usually not on the same day. In 5th grade I placed second in the West Elementary Spelling Bee to a 4th grade girl. The shame still haunts me. BTW, my teen idol growing up was Alyssa Milano because of her striking intellect and extensive charity work.
• What historical era, besides the present, would you most like to have lived in? I think I would have liked to live in England in the first half of the 1900's Average day: Tea and crumpets. Hang out with Tolkien and Lewis. Consult with crazy scientists. Hit the pubs. Smoke pipes. Repeat.
• What is your vision for The Journey in a specific historical era? Late 1800's England with Spurgeon as an associate pastor. We save street children by day, smoke by night and preach to thousands on the weekends.