Calvary Worship Center hosts conference

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON News Editor for the Southern Standard

Rev. Matt Mattix prays with one of the attendees at the District Conference of the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ held here in McMinnville.

The Calvary Worship Center was recently host to the District Conference of the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ here in McMinnville. The program was held in the auditorium of the Warren County High School. Around 500 guests from around the state attended the event, including a number of district officials. The guest speaker was Rev. Matt Maddix from St. Petersburg, Fla., who came at the invitation of Rev. David G. Snowden, the ALJC District Youth President and pastor of the Calvary Worship Center here in McMinnville.

Maddix, 30, is the pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. This dynamic young preacher is a charismatic and high energy speaker and as the assembled crowd came under his influence, the district meeting took on the spirit of an evangelical revival meeting rather than a staid church congress.

Maddix has been preaching for 13 years, and says his calling came in the midst of a burgeoning sports career. He was a well-known high school baseball player in his hometown of Battle Creek, Mich.

But an epiphany while he was training changed his life.

?I went to practice one day and, I don?t know how to explain it, but I lost all heart for baseball,? Maddix said. ?I just felt there was a major change in my life, to really make my life count for God, to really help young people.?

Maddix says his main focus is reaching today?s youth and bringing them into the church. Maddix says it is important to begin when they are young.

?First of all, 19 out of 21 people that come to God will do so before the age of 25,? Maddix said. ?We?re living in a generation where youth are hungry for purpose, to be a part of something. They?re searching.

?We?re living in a lost generation,? Maddix said, ?because of the breakdown of the family, I believe. Many absent fathers. Children growing up in homes with absent fathers.

?Basically I feel like it?s a calling for me to reach these young people,? Maddix went on, ?and I?ve seen it work. I?ve seen that young people are ready for it.?

Maddix says, despite all the temptations and challenges young people face in modern society, young people are still being drawn to the church.

?When you look at America?s youth, and a lot of people are very down on them, and many of them are lost,? Maddix said, ?but I feel extremely positive about their future because I believe we will reach them. There is a revival spirit taking place, everywhere I preach. And where there?s young people, it?s amazing what they?re willing to commit and give up to have some impact, to make a difference.?

This was the first time for the Spring Conference to be held in McMinnville. In addition to Rev. Snowden, other ALJC district officials attending included Rev. Jack Batson, District Superintendent, Rev. Mike Wilson, Asst. District Superintendent, Rev. Robert Evance, District Secretary, Rev. James Smithson, Home Missions Director, Rev. Jeff Weedman, Foreign Missions Director, Rev. Jeff Robinson, District Church Growth Director, and Sis. Joyce Wilson, Women?s Esprit.