Meet Our Staff

Matt Marrs has been on the church staff since 1996. He served as associate pastor/youth minister for four and a half years and has served as senior pastor since 2000. He earned his B.A. degree in Christian ministry from Southwest Baptist University in 1995 and his Master of Divinity degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2000. He is married to Kerry and they have three children, Mason, Micah and Kalynn.  Matt loves every aspect of his ministry at Northland, but he particularly enjoys teaching God's Word each Sunday and Wednesday.  He devotes most of his free time to his family.  He enjoys playing music and running with his kids, and coaching their soccer teams.  He and Kerry spend a lot of their time together tackling various home improvement projects and hanging out with friends. 

Joe Nelson grew up in the youth ministry at Northland and joined the church staff in 2006 after graduating from Southwest Baptist University where he earned a B.A. degree in church ministries with an emphasis in youth as well as a B.A. degree in psychology in 2005. He is in the process of earning his Masters in Counseling from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He married his high school sweetheart Renee, whom he met at Northland as a child. They have two children. Their daughter, Isabel was born in April of 2007, and their son Gabriel was born in January of 2009. Joe is extremely passionate about seeing the next generation reached with the gospel of Christ and teaching them to give glory to God with every aspect of their lives. He also believes it is very important that parents slow down and take time to invest in the spiritual development of their children. He says, "I think this is at the core of truly raising a generation of men and women who will stand up for Jesus Christ." Joe's hobbies include his 95' mustang, his morotcycle, and facebook. Most of all, he enjoys spending times with his wife and kids.

Michael Robinson has been involved in music ministry for the past 10 years.  He joined the Northland Baptist Church staff as the music of minister in the fall of 2008.  Michael graduated from Missouri State University in 2005 with a B.S. in International Business and Spanish.  While in college, Michael was blessed with many opportunities to play for many churches and organizations, which helped him not only develop as an artist but also as a worship leader. Michael has a heart to serve and loves that he gets to use His gifts to glorify God.  In his spare time he loves playing and writing music, biking, exercising, playing all types of sports, and hanging out with his amazing friends.

Debby Nelson has served Northland for more than five years, both as recording secretary and now as administrative assistant. She and her husband, Dave, also spent several years directing the Sunday morning children's worship program, a wonderful time of worship, learning and fun for preschool through second graders.