Matt Sands
Director of Youth ministries

Matt join our HUMC staff in July of 2008; however, he and his wife Anna, had already been teaching one of our youth Sunday school classes months before.  It was definitely a “hit the ground running” start for Matt and his family – on their first day they were on the road to Biloxi Mississippi with the senior higher mission trip.

Since then, there has been an extreme amount of growth among our youth, young and old alike!  One of Matt’s areas of focus in which he feels passion about is daily discipleship.  The question “Can someone follow you and find Jesus or will you lead them away from Him” is a constant accountability challenge kept before our youth.

Matt was born in Key West Florida, but grew up in Jacksonville Florida. He moved to the Nashville area in 1993 to attend Trevecca Nazarene University, where he majored in Theology and minored in Biblical Language (Hebrew/Greek).

Prior to joining our HUMC staff as Director of Youth Ministries, Matt worked for the United Methodist Publishing House (Cokesbury) as their Key Account Manager for nine years.

He enjoys cycling, reading, and spending time with his family. Matt’s latest read is “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan. His favorite quote from this book is “Do you really love the God who is everything or do you just love everything He has given you”. He is a “Pre-Spurrier” Florida Gator fan, which dates back to when Emmett Smith played for the University of Florida.

Matt and Anna have been married for eight years. They met at McClurkan Church of the Nazarene (now called Center point), where he served as their youth minister for four years.  They have two children, Dylan and Maddie. Dylan just started his senior year at McGavock High School where he is actively involved in the marching band and Maddie just started kindergarten.