MT. ZION M.B. CHURCH
Bishop Antonio L. Matthews Sr.
Sr. Pastor/ Teacher
410 Rapoport St, Hayti, MO 63851
(573) 359-2581
OUR PASTOR
Bishop Antonio L. Matthews, Sr. was Installed as the Sr. Pastor of Mt Zion on Sunday August 23, 2015. He also serves as the Bishop of Protocol and Field Operations for the Divine Ministries International Fellowship Inc.(D_MIF). He was born in Memphis, TN on January 27, 1979 to Mr. Partick and Ms. Marion Y. Miner. He began fulfiling the call on his life in June of 1991 after being baptized at Independent M.B. Church in Memphis,TN by the late Rev. Sylvester Pigues.
In September 1993, Bro. Matthews announced his call to be one of God's spokesmen before his church family. In January of 1994 he delivered his first sermon at Independent M.B. Church from Romans 8:35-39 entitled "I'll Let Nothing Separate Me From The Love Of GOD". In June of 1997 after grauating form South Side High School, he joined the U. S. Marine Corps.
After all of his formal military training, he received orders to Okinawa, Japan. While in Japan Elder Matthews began to further his knowledge in the Word of God by enrolling in the Japan extention campus of the Sacramento Bible College and Theological Seminary under the tutelage of the late Bishop James Buchanna, then the Jurisdictional Prelate for the Church of God in Christ. From this beginning, Bishop Matthews earned his Bachelor's Degree in Biblical Studies. In 1999, he recieved Marine Corps PCS orders to New Orleans, LA. Once he arrived in New Orleans he heard the voice of God instucting him to serve a great man of God in the person of Bishop Paul S. Morton Sr. and the Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church.
In August of 2008, Elder Matthews returned home to Memphis, TN to live and assist in the provision for his Great Grandmother who raised him. He reconnected with his formal church family and continued to serve as a member of Independent M.B. Church. In September of 2009, Elder Matthews received his letter of Episcopal Designation to serve as the Bishop of Protocol and later moved to the Office of Field Operrations for the Divine Ministries International Fellowship Inc. On Thursday July 23, 2009 at the age of 30 he was duly consecrated into the Bishopric (with Full Apostolic Succession) by the D-MIF Presiding Prelature who are in good standing with the Joint College of African American Pentecostal Bishops.
www.itsdmif.org/page/bishop-antonio-matthews
Bishop Matthew's motto is very simple, "IF BETTER IS POSSIBLE, THEN GOOD IS NOT ENOUGH". For the word teaches us in Isaiah 1:17; Learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Bishop Matthews desires to encourage all to keep the faith to keep the fellowship. He also believes in the motto: "In order to get what you never had, you got to do what you've never done." Peter had to get out of the boat in order to walk on the water!
Galatians 6:9; And let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap , if we faint not!!
OUR CHURCH
Rev. Adams accepted a call to the preaching ministry in the early 1930's. Later in 1947, he was led to organize a church and fondly named it Mt. Zion M.B. Church. During his tenure the church cultivated charter members who would become foundational witnesses helping to create a ministry of hope in an urban community later to be called a wilderness. As the church grew in vision and determination, Pastor Adams was in fact setting the tempo for Mt Zion. And before climbing the eternal mountain to glory, he like Moses passed the spiritual torch to one whom God had pre-ordained to lead His people into the next level of blessings. The torch has now found its way into the hands of our Joshua after sitting at rest a few years.
The succession of Moses and Joshua is a Biblical fact: our next leader is in the likeness of Joshua, one named Bishop Antonio L. Matthews Sr. He was given the torch, which he has carried high casting a bright light into the lives of an ever-growing congregation and developing community. He has continued to build upon the foundation established by those early servants whose faith surpassed their abilities and circumstances. After 23 blessed years of preparation for the promise, the leadership of Bishop Matthews has extended our ministry into new heights, prompting an opportunity for the people of Zion to celebrate over 70 years of exsistance with great joy. We firmly believe that the Lord has preserved our past, given provision for our present, and we anticipate Him honoring our future.