Matt and Natalie Templeton (pictured above, photo contributed)
Matt Templeton of Fayetteville, N.C., has accepted the role of
worship pastor at Grace Church in Southern Pines, N.C.
“We are excited to welcome Matt to the Grace Church pastoral team,”
says Randy Thornton, the church’s senior pastor.
“I believe strongly in music and the power it has,” says Templeton,
34, an N.C. State University (NCSU) alumnus.
Templeton previously served as a worship pastor at one of the five
locations of Manna Church, a multi-campus ministry based in Fayetteville and advertised
as “one church, many locations.” He most recently served at the church’s Methodist
University site.
He is married to Natalie Douglas Templeton, who often sings with him
as he leads worship. They have two children: Adeline, 5, and Nella, 2.
Templeton and his 3-years-younger sister, Erin Felder, grew up in a
military family. Their parents are Dr. Lee and Anne Templeton of Vass, N.C. Dr.
Templeton is a retired Air Force dentist.
“We moved quite a bit,” says Templeton, noting that he accepted
Christ at age eight while attending Fairview Baptist Church in Columbus,
Mississippi.
“I felt a call to ministry as a kid; and I always loved music, ” he
says.
Templeton, a graduate of Union Pines High School (Cameron, N.C.),
played drums in the marching and concert bands. He also played in several bands throughout high school and
college. He learned to play the
guitar at around age 17.
Templeton attended Sandhills
Community College (SCC) in Pinehurst, N.C. for a year and transferred to Middle
Tennessee State University (MTSU) in Murfreesboro, Tenn., to be near Franklin,
Tenn., a contemporary Christian music center. After one semester at MTSU, he
decided to return to SCC, where he met Natalie Douglas, then from Sanford, N.C.
(She later earned an associate degree in arts from SCC.)
Around the year 2000, the two visited Grace Church with a friend of
Natalie’s. Natalie recalled visiting the church as a child when her father, a
pastor, spoke to the congregation (then meeting at the Town and Country
Shopping Center in Aberdeen, N.C.) Her parents are the Rev. Ralph and Cindy
Douglas. Her father serves as pastor of Our Father’s House in Lemon Springs,
N.C. Natalie accepted Christ at age seven at Grace Chapel School in Tramway,
N.C. She lived twice (around ages eight and 15-16) in South Africa while her
parents served there as missionaries. She has an older brother and sister, Chris and Amanda.
Natalie and Templeton began attending Grace Church and participating
musically.
Templeton transferred to NCSU and earned an electrical engineering
degree. Upon graduation, he was
hired on with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
Still attending Grace Church, Templeton and Natalie married in Sept.
2004. They moved to Savannah, Ga., for Templeton to intern with USACE (Oct.
2004 – May 2005). He was assigned to Ft. Bragg, and the couple returned to Southern
Pines.
Pastor Randy Thornton had started a “Twenty-Something” group (for
people in their twenties) at Grace Church. In 2005, Templeton and his wife
re-started that group under the name “6.33” (later “Twenty-Thirty”). They served
as leaders until 2008. That ministry now continues under the leadership of Pastor
Ryan Peterson as the current “Twenty-Thirty” group at Grace Church.
Matt Templeton was hired at Manna Church in Oct. 2010 and was
ordained as a pastor in 2012.
He says about Natalie, “She’s a real worshipper, loves Jesus, loves
to sing.”
Templeton says one of his “from a
distance” mentors is Matt Redman, 40, an English Christian worship leader, songwriter
and author who is based in Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom. Templeton has met Redman, who has authored and
edited multiple books on Christian worship, including “The Unquenchable
Worshipper” and “Facedown,” which accompanied the album of the same name.
Templeton says other influences he values include his parents,
friends, contemporary pastors and “historical mentors” (“Church Fathers”).
He says worship leaders need more than ability.
“It’s about who they are spiritually,” he says, adding that he hopes
to mentor and disciple worship leaders.
“I also believe strongly in song writing . . .
that a local church can have its own music vocabulary or ‘indigenous
expression,’” Templeton says. “I love Jesus and I love music.”
