The Agape community is served by:

Phil is a townie who grew up right here in Normal.  He’s been a Redbirds fan since childhood, and he is a runner, late-nighter, and a longtime St. Louis Cardinals fan. (But we hope you don’t hold that against him.)  He originally pursued an academic career in mathematics, getting a Bachelor’s at UIUC in 1998, a Master’s here at ISU in 2000, and a Ph.D. at UIC in 2007.  He started to consider a career change during a postdoctoral teaching fellowship in the math department at the University of Arizona.  After he completed the 3-year postdoc, he moved back home in 2011 to tutor math and to be the campus minister at Judson Fellowship, where he had belonged as a student.  Phil met his wife Christine (also a townie) just before going off to college, and they have been married since 1999.  Their son Zach was born in November of 2015.

 

Matt grew up in Memphis, TN, with a native love of BBQ, basketball, and Memphis music.  (BTW nobody in Memphis knows what “Lutheran” means).  He is a proud graduate of Texas Lutheran University, with a major in Theology and a minor in Greek.  Matt and his wife Priscilla met while working together at Lutheran Hills Camp in IN in 1996, and were married in 1998.  Matt and Priscilla attended Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH, graduating in 2003.  Since then they have served together as co-pastors of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Roberts, IL, where they live with their children, dog, cats, and musical instruments.  Matt has had a love for campus ministry since his own college days, and has served the ELCA campus ministry at Illinois State since 2011.