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Introducing Ozark professor, Matthew McBirth
MATTHEW MCBIRTH:
THAT THEY MAY BE ONE
OCC Multicultural Affairs Director Matthew McBirth gave his life to Christ in 2010. “Declaring Jesus as my Lord changed everything,” Matthew says of his baptism. Originally from Jeffersonville, Indiana, Matthew came to Ozark as a student in 2012 to train for ministry. Initially, he planned to become a youth minister, but during Matthew’s time at OCC, God stirred in him a passion for unity in the church.
“Jesus’ prayer in John 17 really inspired me,” Matthew says. “I realized that in the New Testament, unity is reflected in the midst of ethnic diversity—through Jews and Gentiles communing together. I want the church to be one so that the world will know Jesus is the Son of God.”
As Matthew’s passion for unity and reconciliation grew, OCC was preparing to launch a department to focus on ethnic and cultural diversity. When Matthew graduated in 2016, the timing was right. Matthew joined the OCC staff to lead the new Diversity Department—now named the Multicultural Affairs Department. Under Matthew’s leadership, the department has held monthly “Mosaic Lunch” conversations on race, welcomed outside guests for panel discussions and seminars, hosted heritage and cultural events on campus, directed OCC’s Mosaic Leadership scholarship, and worked to ensure that OCC is a home and haven for students of all ethnicities.
In 2017, Matthew also began to serve as a professor of Bible and ministry at Ozark. In 2019, he graduated from Duke University with a Master of Arts in Christian Practice with an emphasis in Reconciliation Ministry.
The gospel of Jesus is about bringing unity to the world—about Christ restoring unity between the Creator and his created, and between man and his fellow man. Matthew notes, “When people see ethnic diversity in a church or on a Christian college campus—a place where people of different colors and cultures come together to worship God as one—then the world will know that Jesus is the Christ.” Matthew loves music— especially rap and hip hop. He also enjoys writing and presenting spoken-word poetry.
In 2016, Matthew married Allison Scott (OCC ’15). The McBirths have two children, Asa and Naomi.
“Ephesians 2 ranks up there as one of my favorite Scripture passages,” says Matthew, “because it explains God’s mission of reconciliation.”