In this edition of Pastor’s Notes, Matt Pearson, pastor of Clearview Baptist Church in Franklin, Tennessee, shares how God began reshaping his desire to shepherd years before an unexpected opportunity led him to Clearview. What initially seemed like an unlikely move eventually became clear as Matt recognized that what the church needed aligned with what God had already been forming in him.
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Hey, my name's Matt Pearson. I'm the pastor of Clearview Baptist Church here in Franklin, Tennessee. And recently, about 10 months ago, I made a move across town from the church at West Franklin, which is one of Brentwood Baptist Church's campuses, uh, their... to being their campus and teaching pastor to being the senior pastor at Clearview, and it was something I never saw coming, uh, something I wasn't necessarily looking for. Um, but I'll share briefly as to kind of what, what was going on in me that made it obvious that this is what God was calling me to. I was the campus and teaching pastor at West Franklin for 10 and a half years. Loved the people there, loved the congregation, thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Brentwood ministry, the Brentwood system, if you will, and was really, really good for me and my soul. Um, but I, I began to see a shift, um, maybe in year six. Um, it was, it was not long after COVID, there was a shift in me of really wanting to shepherd, um, a flock, and not that I wasn't doing it at West Franklin, uh, but there was a, um, kind of an umbrella of, of Brentwood, which was all wonderful. Don't have any issues with that, but I just began to feel a stirring to, to be a, be a shepherd. And so when Clearview reached out to me, my first reaction was, "There's no way. It just wouldn't work. It's, uh, 10 minutes away from where I currently am. It's in Franklin. Um, what would that l- what would the people at West Franklin feel like?" That, that sort of thing. But I, I... After talking with some of the members of Clearview and the pastor search team, they kept saying over and over a- after giving me some of the history of Clearview, how desperate they were for a shepherd. Um, a not, not a, not necessarily a, a dreamer. Um, you know, there's different kinds of leaders that are out there, but they were just longing for someone to shepherd them, to pastor them as a congregation, and I really felt like they were naming what God was doing in me to, to be able to come alongside a congregation, know them, be with them. Uh, a true shepherd smells like his sheep, and I wanted to be in their world and, and not, not lead them, me over here and them over here, but be with them, walking with Jesus with them. And so God began to just kind of stir and turn and reshape my pastoral identity as to being a shepherd. I had been a senior pastor at three churches prior to moving to West Franklin, and so the way I was going to approach this Clearview thing was gonna be totally, totally different. Things that God had taught me, ways that God was forming me as, into this shepherd pastor. And so I knew, uh, it became clear over time that this is what, this is what God had been preparing me for, to shepherd this flock that were needing and wanting and longing for a shepherd pastor leader. And so I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to do that. If you're a shepherd, if you're a pastor, um, a Sunday school class teacher, uh, a parent, I would just encourage you to lean into what is, what is God calling you to? How is He forming you? How is He shaping you? What is He, what is He doing in you, um, that's preparing you for or getting you right now ready for the people that are right in front of you? It's not an accident that He's stirring in your soul, and I would just encourage you to pay attention to that.
