Our Story

Matthews Church of God was organized on August 8, 1954, becoming the first Pentecostal church in the Matthews area. There were 27 charter members; Churches of God in Monroe and Pineville assisted by transferring some of their members who lived in the Matthews area. The State Overseer was Earl P. Paulk and the District Overseer, W.C. Lambert, who set the church in order and installed Winston Clark as the first pastor.

W.S. Sprinkle, Pastor of the Pineville church, purchased property at 516-519 E John Street and $ 2000 was borrowed for the construction of a block building after having met in a portable chapel. The building was later bricked to become part of the current structure.

The church has gone through several building programs. The original block church was surrounded by a new addition under Bobby Sustar in the late 1960's that the Charlotte Observer referred to as a church within a church. A parsonage was built beside the church in 1956 under the leadership of Odell Dyson, a fellowship hall was added in 1966, and a new sanctuary was built in 1967, incorporating the old structure as the Sunday school department. The new sanctuary had a seating capacity of 200 with cathedral ceilings and a sunken baptistry. Four crosses were inlaid on the front of the building.

The front entrance was remodeled in 1985 under Lewis Hatchell, replacing wood with glass and adding a fifth cross. A new addition was also added with four classrooms, two restrooms and an office that would serve as a daycare and Sunday school rooms.

The church undertook its greatest challenge in 2005 when it voted to build a new 9000 square foot sanctuary. It would be at least two years before the building project would begin due to being held up by the DOT regarding a drain at the side of the road.  After jumping through hoops and contacting our congressman, the DOT gave the green light.

In the middle of the building program came "The Great Recession" which caused a sharp economic decline that started in 2007 and lasted several years. It was considered the most significant downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s. So, it was a difficult time to be in a building program, but we were determined to bring it to completion.

The bank we had been dealing with was fantastic to work with but then they were bought out by another bank that was not user friendly. That bank sent several representatives to meet with us and they informed us that they did not like doing business with churches and they would not loan us any additional money. So, we went to our third bank during the building program that was church friendly to get the funds we needed. Even though this new bank was supportive, they were limited in what they could loan to us because of the recession.

Our people rallied and did fund raisers, while others gave liberally toward things such as pews, furniture, and stained-glass windows to make up the difference. It was very stressful trying to finish such a monumental task but by the Lord's help we moved into our new sanctuary on Mother's Day, May 10, 2009.

We praise God for all His blessings and for providing us a beautiful and spacious place to worship with a seating capacity of 450!

(The church has had a total of fifteen pastors, see pastoral history below)

1990-1999