Veteran Baptist pastor says he’s founded his final church

“I wasn’t that impressed with it,” he said. “There weren’t many trees, for one thing, which seemed strange to me.”

 

But Echols was following a higher guide than his own feelings. A veteran Baptist minister who had already founded four successful churches and helped build another 10, he was in Maricopa because he felt that special tug on his heart that had guided him for the past 35 years, since he graduated from Bible college in Michigan and stepped into the pulpit of his first church.

 

“I have always felt compelled to move on to a new place and start a new work,” Echols said. “But this is going to be my last church.”

 

Itinerant preachers aren’t that rare, and many preachers move on from churches because of problems or failures, but Echols said he has left successful churches behind him every

step of the way and he is brimming with confidence that Faith Baptist Church, which he founded in his home in September 2009, will flourish as well 

 

He is especially excited about the church moving to a more formal facility on the Sequoia Pathway Academy campus. The congregation held its first Sunday service in the new location on March 12, and Echols believes the move will do great things for his small congregation of 35.
 

Echols, 68, grew up in Detroit, where there were lots of trees. Most of his family was employed at Ford Motor Co., including an uncle who served on a board of directors with members of the Ford family.

 

He moved to Phoenix with his mother and father in 1958 when he was 15 years old. After graduating from Camelback High School, he joined the Air Force, where he served as reconnaissance photo analyst during the perilous days of the Cuban Missile crisis.

 

“Even today, people have no idea how close we came to a nuclear war,” he said.

 

After the Air Force, Echols went to work as a pipe fitter at the Motorola missile plant in Scottsdale. Before long, he and Edie met and got married. Life seemed great for a while, but then, in Echols’ words, “the marriage began to unravel.”

 

Seeking a way to repair their relationship, the couple decided to try going to church. Echols said the service they attended at Heart-to-Heart Bible Church on 7th Avenue in Phoenix was the third time he had gone church in his life. In a home visit the Monday after the service, the church’s pastor led Mat and Edie to the Lord, in the language of their faith.

 

Feeling a call to the ministry, Echols entered Bible college, graduating in 1974 and taking on his first pastoral assignment. He has since earned Doctor of Divinity and Doctor of Theology degrees. 

 

Echols’ initial dislike for Maricopa has changed, like water into wine, into a love for the community. “It is a wonderful town and this is where we plan to stay,” he said.

 

Looking beyond their shared quarters at Pathway, Echols is already thinking in terms of a dedicated church building in the not-too-distant future.

 

So don’t be surprised if you drive into town someday and see an imposing structure with a steep gabled roof and Corinthian columns with Mat Echols greeting people at the door.

 

“There is nothing I love more than meeting people and witnessing to them,” Echols said. “In fact, I just love people, period.”

 

What: Faith Baptist Church

Where: Sequoia Pathway Academy,

19287 N. Porter Road

When: Sunday School, 10 a.m., Morning

Service, 11 a.m.

Phone: 520-568-4990