Rev. Matt Paul
Pastor Matt is a native of Eugene, Oregon where he attended the University of Oregon and received a Bachelor of Science in Finance, and met his wife, Becca. After a brief stint as a bank auditor, Matt followed God’s call to ministry. He attended Princeton Theological Seminary where he received a Master of Divinity. Since his ordination in 1996, Matt has served PC(USA) churches in Grants Pass, Oregon, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Spokane Valley, Washington, where he currently serves Opportunity Presbyterian Church. He is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and expects to complete his doctoral project by the fall of 2011. His passion in ministry is helping others grow in Christ and serve according to their spiritual gifts. His personal interests include hiking, bird watching, sports, gardening, woodworking, and working on home improvement projects.
Becca
has a Bachelor of Arts in English. She is a preschool teacher and currently teaches two three-year-old classes. She has taught children from infancy through 5th grade at various times during the past 22 years, but preschoolers are her all-time favorite kids to work with! She is also active in the Opportunity Presbyterian Church choir and helps with their Wednesday night children’s program. Her favorite hobby is reading.
Willem
is 13 and in 8th grade. He plays trombone in the regular and jazz bands at school. He is also active in scouting, usually serving as Patrol Leader or Chaplain’s Assistant (sometimes both at the same time!), and currently holds the rank of First Class. Willem has also become quite a proficient skier in the past few years and goes skiing almost every weekend from December through March.
Marina
is 11 and in 6th grade, which is middle school in Spokane Valley. She loves to write, produce, and perform plays and skits with her friends. She also enjoys singing and has been taking weekly voice lessons this year. She has also been very involved with Upward Cheerleading for the past few years, and this year she got to be a flyer in quite a few stunts during the basketball season.
Arie
is in 3rd grade and just recently turned 9. He loves to play video games and board games. He will tell you that his favorite subjects in school are recess and lunch, but he does also enjoy science and math. In fact, he was one of only a couple of 3rd graders at his school to be selected for the 4th grade Math is Cool team which competes against 4th graders from other schools. He has also been involved with Upward Basketball for three years.
To download a printable version, click here:Introducing the Paul Family