APRIL 15, 2015

ASU graduate is new associate pastor


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matt knopfSCOTTSDALE – Matt Knopf, a 2003 Arizona State University graduate, has joined the ministerial staff of La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church as an associate pastor.

Knopf earned a degree in theater with an emphasis on youth education at ASU. He then went to Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., where he earned a master of divinity degree.

Knopf, who grew up in the Tempe area, said he had an early calling to the ministry. “I knew I was called to be a pastor even before I knew what a pastor was,” he said.

After he graduated from Luther Seminary, Knopf and his wife, Jessica, also an ASU graduate, lived in Atlacomulco, Mexico, in the Mazahua Valley, for a year, “focusing on the promotion of education in under-developed areas and the spread of the gospel through indigenous church leadership work.”

Knopf also has been on several trips to pursue his interest in Biblical archaeology. “I have studied the archaeology of early Judaism and Christianity in Greece, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. This was not a part of my schooling but rather for personal study reasons and ongoing learning.”

His archaeological activities have included a dig at Bethsaida, on the Sea of Galilee, “a city in the New Testament where some of Jesus’ disciples are from and where Jesus performed miracles. King David also had relations here as it was the Iron Age capital city of Geshur.”

At La Casa de Cristo, Knopf will be working with families, “helping people be excited about God’s word, and helping them discover it for themselves. I will be opening up the Biblical scriptures for young families. I hope to create an atmosphere of excitement,” he said. “We also will be planning a lot of family activities.”