Senior Pastor Search 2026

Introducing Our New Senior Pastor, Dr. Mateus de Campos!

Meet Dr. Mateus de Campos

After a lengthy search process led by our Senior Pastor search committee, we're thrilled to announce that the members of our congregation have overwhelmingly approved Dr. Mateus de Campos as Grace Chapel's next Senior Pastor!

Prior to his new role at Grace Chapel, Dr. de Campos has been serving at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary as the George F. Bennett Associate Professor of New Testament. He is the author of Bible commentaries on 2 Peter, Jude, and Ephesians, among other publications. Originally from Brazil, Dr. de Campos previously served as a pastor for ten years at the Church of the Nazarene in Americana, Brazil, where he preached, taught, and developed ministries.

You may have seen Dr. de Campos at Grace Chapel, where he joined us as a guest preacher last summer.

Dr. de Campos has spoken at numerous churches and conferences in the United States, Brazil and across the globe. He remains actively engaged in preaching and teaching in local churches in New England, Brazil, and abroad, ministering across various denominations within the evangelical tradition. In addition to his teaching role at the seminary, he has been serving as the interim pastor of West Church in Haverhill, MA while writing commentaries on the Gospel of Mark and on the discipleship narratives in the Gospels.

Dr. de Campos resides in Middleton, MA, with his wife, Renata, and their children, Matt and Zoe.

Dr. de Campos’ experience, character, faith, beliefs, and approach to ministry aligns with our mission, vision, and values. We believe his strong foundation of biblical teaching, his vibrant spiritual life, and his fostering of cultural diversity well equip him to be our next Senior Pastor.

We'd like to thank our congregation for providing faithful support and participation throughout the search process. 

Dr. de Campos Preaching: Sermon Examples

Watch four sermon examples from Dr. de Campos.

A Prayer We Don’t Know How to Pray — Romans 8:26–30

Gospel Gathering with Mateus de Campos, Part One

Mystery, Wonder, and Praise — Romans 11:33–36

Where Are You? — Dr. Mateus F. de Campos

Q&A: Getting to Know our New Senior Pastor

Watch the full Q&A session with Dr. Mateus de Campos.

Q&A with Dr. Mateus de Campos — Senior Pastor Candidate

Q&A Discussion Topics

During the Live Q&A, Dr. Mateus de Campos was able to answer questions on the following topics:

  • Personal background
  • Education, ordination, and work history
  • Calling to Grace Chapel
  • Thoughts on the role of the church in a polarized climate
  • Thoughts on holding a traditional view of marriage with a welcoming posture
  • Leadership style
  • Vision for outreach
  • Discipleship
  • Commitment to Grace’s vision and mission

You can find that video linked above.

The following FAQ are answers to questions that we were not able to address during the live Q&A. The FAQ reflects frequently recurring topics among the questions submitted.

The search committee did consider both internal and external candidates that applied for the position. We are grateful for the many senior pastor candidate recommendations we received from our congregation—Mateus was among these recommendations as well. While we are blessed to have a highly talented and gifted staff, it was determined that Mateus was the candidate best suited for the role. Mateus will continue to work with the teaching team and staff of preachers, who will continue to have opportunities to teach and preach.

If Mateus is confirmed as the next senior pastor of Grace Chapel he will be leaving his current position at the seminary. While he may have some previously agreed commitments for teaching or speaking engagements, his primary focus will be the position of Senior Pastor at Grace Chapel. He hopes to maintain a positive and collaborative relationship with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in order to continue to develop the future generations of Christian Leaders. Mateus hopes to continue as a visiting professor at Gordon-Conwell and teach classes from time to time, just as his predecessors have in the Senior Pastor role.

Middleton is 20 miles and approximately 30 minutes away during the week, and should not impede his ability to fulfill his responsibilities as our Senior Pastor. Mateus and Renata would like to eventually move closer to the church, but may wait until the right time to make that move for their family.

Mateus is passionate about reaching and discipling the next generation. In the early years of his ministry, he served as a youth pastor, shepherding a group of 500 students from middle school through college. He is often invited to speak to college students at campus ministry retreats and events throughout the Boston area. He is also the father of two Gen Z children who, in his words, “keep him on his toes.” He believes that the younger generation’s search for meaning, purpose, belonging, and spiritual reality should be taken seriously. Mateus is encouraged by what he perceives to be a movement of the Spirit among younger generations and is eager to develop strategies to nurture it at Grace Chapel and throughout the wider community.

The role of the Senior Pastor is to set the vision and influence the strategic direction of the church. Mateus’ leadership style is to develop, encourage and empower his staff to work within that vision and strategic direction, and be the champion of all the ministries and initiatives of Grace Chapel.

As a musician and a former worship leader, he finds value in all kinds of worship music. The fact that we have both styles of worship is a testament to the diversity we have within our congregation. Mateus continues to support our talented worship leaders in how they design our worship services in line with our teaching team.

Mateus will continue Grace Chapel's legacy of biblical scholarship and expository teaching in preaching. He engages attendees with a personable preaching style, which combines relatable stories (often humorous!) with teachings rooted in Mateus’ extensive understanding of Scripture. To see examples of Mateus’ preaching, see the Sermon Examples section above on this page.

First, continue to lift them up in prayer. This is a big change to a big church. It can be both exhilarating and overwhelming! Pray that God will provide pathways to deep Christian friendships for Mateus, Renata, Matt and Zoe as they find their way to become one with the body of Christ at Grace Chapel.

Search Updates (Archive)

The Search Committee 

Finding and selecting the candidate for our next Senior Pastor is a time-consuming process. The volunteers who’ve been selected to serve on the Search Committee are dedicating hundreds of hours of time over the next few months to review candidates.

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 Victor Gerdes, Chair

Victor worships at the Lexington campus. He volunteers primarily on the Grace Chapel Board of Elders, now in his third term. Victor previously served on the BOE from 2012 to 2020, 5 years as chair. Victor has a 25+ year background in creating engineering software as a software product management executive and currently works for Stratasys, a leader in industrial 3D printing.

Victor is married to Lisa, recently retired from her role as head of school and a founder of Veritas Christian Academy (K-8) in Wayland. Victor & Lisa have three adult daughters. Fun facts – growing up, Victor lived for seven years in Africa, in Nigeria, the Sudan, Ethiopia, and Lesotho and has visited over 50 countries.

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Kurt Drescher, Vice-Chair

Kurt Drescher is the Associate Vice President of Advancement at Gordon College. A graduate of the college, Kurt spent more than 20 years as an account representative and marketing executive in the graphic arts industry. Much of his work was with clients in the fields of higher education and non-profits along with numerous commercial clients. Prior to joining Gordon College, he served as the Pastor of Stewardship at Grace and prior to that, served as Vice President of Advancement at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary overseeing institutional fundraising and communications efforts for the seminary.

Kurt has been an active member of Grace Chapel for going on 35 years. As a volunteer, he has served three terms as an overseeing elder and has been a member of several ministry teams including the Life Community Ministry Team and multiple capital campaign teams. Kurt lives in Reading, Massachusetts with his wife Sharon and together they have two adult daughters and two sons-in-law.

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Greg Olson

Greg Olson is a Lexington resident and has been part of Grace Chapel for over 25 years. Greg and his wife Judy are the proud parents of three children and the doting grandparents to a growing number of grandchildren.

Greg has been involved in many areas of ministry at Grace Chapel.  He currently leads the communion teams at the Lexington campus.  He has helped with many aspects of the tech and digital ministries in Lexington, Watertown and online. Greg leads a Life Group for men each Saturday.  Greg is involved with missions at Grace, assisting with GAW and participating in several CCLEs, including trips to Guatemala.  Greg is a recently commissioned Stephen Minister at Grace. He is a Connection Team member, helping to get visitors connected to the ministry. Outside Grace Chapel, Greg is involved with several aspects of the Joni & Friends ministry, supporting families affected by disability.

Greg has recently retired. He completed his career as a Software Engineering Director at Raytheon where he was responsible for all the software aspects of several large radar programs.  He was also a line manager for most of his career; hiring, developing and rewarding engineers.

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Loretta Chou

Loretta and her husband, Don Vinh, have been part of Grace Chapel since 1998, raising their two children and serving in many ministries. She has led CCLE family mission trips with her husband, taught in Kidstown, joined HSM parent strategy team meetings, volunteered in Global Awareness Week, serves on the Boston Project Steering Committee, and co-leads a Life Community group for Young Married Couples.

A pediatrician at Lowell Community Health Center, Loretta joined the Senior Pastor Search Committee out of love for Grace Chapel and a desire to help identify a senior pastor who will lead with spiritual depth, compassion, and a heart for both the congregation and community.

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Kim Cogswell 

Kim Cogswell has been attending Grace Chapel's Wilmington campus with her husband Doug since they moved back to the Boston Area in 2021. They had previously been members of the Lexington campus back in the mid-80's (under Gordon MacDonald and then Howard Clark) before work took them out to the New York and then Chicago areas for over 35 years! They moved back in 2021 to be closer to their 3 adult children, their spouses, and grandson.

In 2023, Kim retired from a career in data analytics software sales and marketing. Since then she has stepped in to serve the church in a variety of capacities, including as a Connection Coach, Fostering Initiative Team Lead, and Partner Engagement Team Lead.

In addition, Kim is a member of the Women's Evening Bible Study @ WIL (4 years) and has led occasional short-term small groups (e.g., Neighborhood Ministry, Lent) She also helped recruit the Grace Wilmington worship band to play at Reading’s annual porchfest from her front deck.

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Grace Morrison

Grace Morrison is a clinical social worker, working full time as an adjustment counselor at a middle school and part time at a small group practice providing therapy to adolescents and supervision to pre-licensed clinicians.

Along with her husband, Steve, Grace has been been attending Grace Chapel Foxboro since January of 2019 and have since expanded their family to include our two wonderfully energetic boys, Cullen and Lincoln. She serves as a singer on the worship team at Grace Chapel, as well as in Kidstown with the toddlers and preschoolers. In her (albeit limited) free time, Grace enjoys running, spending time outdoors with her family, listening to podcasts, and trying to fit in conversations with other adults!

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Emmanuel Owusu 

Emmanuel Owusu has been a member of Grace Chapel for the past three years and attends the Lexington Campus with his wife, Cindy, and two teenage daughters, Debbie and Mimmie. He serves as a Connection Coach, an active member of the Africans at Grace group, in the Intercessory Prayer Group, and occasionally leads small groups. Originally from Ghana, Emmanuel and his family now live in Newton.

He leads a workforce organization that supports internationally trained professionals to restart their careers in Massachusetts. Emmanuel enjoys being around people and spending time in nature. 

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Raymond Yu

Ray has been a part of the Watertown Campus and Grace Chapel for over 11 years. He and his wife, Lilly have been actively involved in the Watertown campus in a number of areas. Ray has served as a Group Leader, is on the Connections Team, and supports the Watertown Campus in a variety of other ways.

Ray has also served faithfully as an assisting Elder and as a part of the Nomination Committee. Ray loves to cook, has a heart for hospitality and loves to serve people through food. He and his wife frequently drop off meals or host people from their church community. Professionally, Ray is an Environmental Graphic Designer.