Key facts:
- The Rev. Matt Rawle is a General Conference delegate and a singer in the main worship band at General Conference.
- He was chosen by Raymond Trapp, director of worship and music for General Conference, who heard him sing during a sermon at the United Methodist Association of Communicators meeting last year.
- Rawle will be a guest preacher in a Charlotte area church during General Conference and plans to sing during his sermon.
When the Rev. Matt Rawle isn’t in his plenary seat as a General Conference delegate, he’s probably up on stage singing in the worship band.
People notice.
“I’m not anonymous,” he said. “I’m 6’3” and bald and loud.”
Rawle, 45, is in his eighth year as lead pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in Bossier City, Louisiana. For the first five years, he also led the worship band for contemporary worship.
He often sings during his sermons and did so when he preached at the United Methodist Association of Communicators meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, last October. He rehearsed with Raymond Trapp, who supervised music for that event and is worship and music director for the General Conference in Charlotte.
They hit it off, personally and musically.
“(Trapp) says, ‘Hey man, what are you doing for General Conference? I need you in the band,’” Rawle recalled.
Trapp has his own keen memory of first hearing Rawle sing.
“Phenomenal. I love his voice, but I think it’s also the level of ministry,” Trapp said. “He worships through his voice. And I think that’s what really speaks to everyone, and that’s what I experienced.”
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A couple of weeks before General Conference, Trapp sent a set of PDFs with music for songs the band would perform during morning worship. On site, there was a little rehearsal — but not a lot.
That suited Rawle.
“I love improvisation,” he said. “I love the energy of not knowing what’s going to happen.”
Indeed, he considers music-making — especially following the lead of the spirit — to be a metaphor for Christian discipleship.
Rawle also considers it one of God’s ironies that he has spent so much time singing in contemporary worship bands.
He loves classical music and majored in opera at Louisiana State University. He spent two seasons singing tenor in opera productions in Natchez, Mississippi.
“Puccini is my favorite — just how big and romantic and layered the music is,” he said. “I’m a 7 on the Enneagram, so louder and faster is always better.”
Rawle was working as a youth director when he felt a call to full-time Christian ministry.
Along with leading churches, he has become a popular author for Abingdon Press, writing such titles as “The Faith of a Mockingbird” and “Hollywood Jesus.” His 13th book, “The Final Days” — comparing the passion account in the Gospels — is due out later this year.
At General Conference, he serves on the Church and Society 2 Committee. And on Sunday, April 26, he’ll be guest preaching at Harrison United Methodist Church, near Charlotte.
Rawle plans to sing a little during that sermon.
“I can’t imagine a day without singing,” he said. “It’s living water to me.”
Hodges is a Dallas-based writer for United Methodist News. Contact him at 615-742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests.
