Matt Hoppe
Since high school, one of my life’s goals is to see and help others to see glimpses of God’s beauty.
As I grew up, I saw the farm country northwest of Chicago turn into a skipping record of Best Buy’s and Applebee’s. I attended the liberal arts college Taylor University where I was able to grapple with my faith and understanding of beauty through music and theater and by reading books, having discussions, and sitting under very wise people. One of the people that I had life-shaping discussions with into the wee hours of the morning became my bride.
We moved to Northern Michigan (Traverse City Area) where I taught fourth and fifth grade for four years in the rural town of Boyne Falls. I also became the music pastor of a local Church. My relationships and experiences their continued to shape my understanding of God’s desire for us to participate in his beautiful will.
In 2009, Michigan was falling apart financially; and when my teaching position became shaky, my wife and I reevaluated our situation. We both saw patterns and opportunities pointing us toward the Arlandria (Chirilagua) neighborhood where one of our dear friends from college was helping to start a non-profit called Casa Chirilagua. We loved the idea of being able to live and serve in a multi-socioeconomic/multi-cultural neighborhood to help build up the Church by connecting His diverse people to each other, so we moved to the East Coast.
My bride Rachel, son Roman, daughter Selah, and I presently live in intentional community on the border of Alexandria and Arlington. I taught in the local school for two years, and concurrently was hired as part-time music pastor at Restoration for a year and a half. Starting in July 2011, I became a full-time staff member at Restoration.
I love my job.
I long for us to experience God’s beautiful world and his beautiful story of redemption. It is my desire that our act of worship would be getting caught up in the transcendent beauty of the Most High God, that songs of truth would be ready on our lips, and that we would be ready to present ourselves as “holy and living sacrifices” to our God as we participate in His story.
