On May 13 during a socially-distanced congregational meeting online, the church voted to call Associate Pastor Matt Filbert to the senior pastor position.

Pastor Matt, who had been the director of RP Missions for more than 20 years, accepted this position in early June and plans to start as full-time pastor at the beginning of August.

Having grown up in a small, rural Kansas town, Matt has had a heart for ministry from an early age. As a young boy, he was surrounded by pastors who had retired to the area and was discipled by them– Bob Tweed, Wylie Caskey, Howard Elliott, Renwick Wright, Jim Pennington, Paul White, and John Tweed were among them.

During his time at Kansas State University, Matt and fellow RP James Tweed, began Bible studies with fellow students. They petitioned the Midwest Presbytery for funds to pay for these studies and to help transport youth to quarterly retreats.

After three and a half years, Matt transferred to Sterling College where he graduated in 1995. During that year, he took a mission trip to Russia that would forever change the course of his life. There was no way to follow up with the contacts they had made there. This would be the impetus of the RP Missions program.

In 1998, Matt graduated from the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, where he stayed on as Admissions Director and also Director of RP Missions, which he had started the previous year.

In 2008, Matt left the seminary to work for the RP Global Mission Board to work on development as he continued with RP Missions. In 2017, Matt became a half-time associate pastor at First RPC in addition to the missions program.

Pastor Matt is excited to be able to give himself full-time to the ministry of the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Beaver Falls. He looks most forward to shepherding the sheep who he already loves deeply.