Matthew M. Montgomery

Matthew Michael Montgomery, son of James William & Beta Ann Montgomery, husband to Laura, brother of Debbie Sue and James William Montgomery Jr., and father to Elijah, Jared, Josiah and Hannah, passed on from this world to be with the Lord in the early hours of October 20th , 2022. A public visitation will be held Wednesday, October 26th, from 2:30-8:00pm, at the Jowett Funeral Home, and again on Thursday from 10:00am until time of funeral at 11:00am. There will be a luncheon following the cemetery at the Columbus Bible Church - 1770 Palms Road, Columbus Twp. starting at 2:30pm. Matthew discovered his passion in life at an early age when, inspired by the miraculous healing of his father from deafness, he travelled to Georgia to attend Taccoa Falls Bible College. There he trained to become a minister, and after returning to Michigan, started a home bible study group that would continue for eight years. The group would grow and evolve as Matthew did, adapting into different forms and to different locations, and would continue for the remainder of his life. It was here, leading bible study, that Matthew discovered his true mission in life: explaining the nature of God, as he viewed it, to his friends and fellow Christians. In this role Matt would witness to hundreds of people, develop his own personal ideas and philosophy, and meet the woman who would become the love of his life, Laura Tefend, in the early 1990s. According to Laura, “…it was love at first sight. I had first visited his bible study in 1991 with my boyfriend at the time, and when I saw Matt, I knew immediately that he was the one. He had my heart right there,” she says. “Our courtship was beautiful,” she continued. “He was so romantic, and respectful, and just wonderful to me. There was no doubt in either of our minds that God had brought us together.” They would court for one year, and finally marry in June 1992. As Matt put it in a letter addressed to Laura written shortly before his passing; “There is so, so much that I wanted to say, but I am at a loss for words. I’ve been trying to write this letter for the past five days. To try and explain how much I love you just isn’t enough. Over the past thirty plus years we have been through so much. You have been the best, most patient wife and help-mate any man could ask for and I appreciate that. I still say you could have done a lot better picking a husband but I’m glad that you didn’t.” Their first-born son, Elijah Daniel, was born the following May, followed by twins Josiah James & Jared Michael, in 1996. “I never had more joy than when I was a stay-at-home Dad with my beautiful, amazing, gifted boys,” said Matthew. “I was so proud to show them off. The compliments we would get as to how well behaved they were, and how beautiful they were never ceased to overwhelm me.” Matthew would continue his ministerial career at New Life Ministries in 2003 as Associate Pastor, a position he would hold until 2006. Here he gained a reputation as a powerful speaker, as well as an assiduous, detail-oriented composer of sermons. “He spent weeks reading scripture and theology books, writing and editing his sermons,” says Laura. “His goal was always to find the truth, to make himself understand it, and then to share it with everyone in the congregation.” He put everything he could physically muster into his sermon delivery, coming down from the altar regularly soaked with perspiration like a professional athlete. “Just in case there is any confusion about the matter, my place in the body of Christ is the sweat-gland,” he was fond of saying from the pulpit. “The thing I admired most about Dad was his ability to embody the love of God, and to translate that love to those around him,” says Elijah. “A perfect example of that was his ministry. Every sermon was an act of love. When Dad was slated to preach on a given Sunday, you knew you were in for a performance. He was like a rockstar. You learned, you laughed, you felt loved, and above all, you enjoyed it. Being so close to his ministry so early in my life helped to form me into who I am today.” In August 2005, Matt & Laura were blessed with yet another child: their only daughter, Hannah Rose. “When Hannah came along…well, I didn’t know I could be that happy,” he said. “She was Daddy’s little girl, and I loved every minute with her. It’s amazing to see the remarkable woman she is becoming right before our eyes…” More than anything else, Hannah appreciated her father’s sense of humor: “Every gathering was such a good time because we would laugh so hard, until we literally couldn’t breathe. Some of my happiest memories are just of the two of us laughing,” she says. “But when he wanted to be serious, he knew how to hold your attention. His passion was refreshing. You always felt ready to take on the world after listening to him talk.” * * * After attending the dozen or so funerals officiated by my father when I was a child, I am convinced enough to say that he would have wanted us to be happy for him in bodily death. The passing away of his earthly body is only a signpost for the beginning of a new spiritual life for him; a life without pain, where he is in the constant presence of his creator. At the funeral service of his mother and my grandmother, Beta Montgomery, a service he presided over, I remember him saying that most human beings react inappropriately to the passing-on of a loved one. He said that a funeral service should not be an occasion of mourning, but one of rejoicing at the deceased’s admission into the holy presence of the Almighty. He had come to terms with this fact regarding himself before his passing on. “…it’s great news for me,” he wrote. “I have repented before the Lord…and because of His faithfulness I believe I am either in His presence now, or will wake up to His presence when He returns (still not clear on that one).” He was a man blessed with vast intelligence and knowledge, and he was never satisfied to stop questioning. His life was dedicated to a search for and an understanding of the truth of God’s nature. He was an inspiration to myself and to all who knew him, and he will be sincerely missed until he is seen by all of us again. In love and rejoicing, -Josie

Matthew M. Montgomery

December 6, 1966 - October 20, 2022