About mattfrizzell.com

Some things don’t make sense unless you struggle with them.  Struggling with something is a matter of love.  Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32:22-31 comes to mind.

I’m not a small town guy.  But, I live in rural Iowa in a town of around 2,500 called Lamoni.  I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and have lived in Chicago and Kansas City.  I’m a father, friend, companion, minister & scholar…and I’m on a pilgrimage.   I grew up in a Christian family and going to church.  But I was a typical GenXer: cynical about religion, babyboomers, and everyone who wanted to sell me something.   In the midst of deep pain and searching, God came into my life in a deeply personal and impacting way.  It messed up everything.  I I’m still no fan of much of the Christianity I see around me, but I can’t deny the Love of God for me, for the world, and working to fulfill all of life.

For me, loving God with all my heart, mind, & strength (Deut 6:5 & the Gospels) means wrestling with God and others. God calls us to wrestle with what it means to accept our place in the earth, the world we can create, and life together.   So, faith has everything to do with politics, economics, human suffering, relationships, feelings, love, parenting, violence, entertainment, ministry, and church.  Struggling with faith – not out of coercion or compulsion, but love – is the only game in town.  I believe you kind find Jesus in the rubble of religion and the Love of God in everyday of life.

I serve Graceland University as Campus Minister and on faculty teaching in church leadership & religion.  Founded in 1895, Graceland is an non-sectarian university with a heritage in affiliation with Community of Christ.

Community of Christ Temple, Independence, Missouri

As campus minister, I promote the importance of faith on campus and its significance a part of a holistic liberal arts education.   I believe passion and freedom of inquiry are essential aspects of theology and learning.  I work with students who want to develop their faith and ministerial leadership, as well as promote occasions for interfaith dialogue and pursuit of peace & justice.

Besides my daughters and best friend (Margo, my wife), my passion revolves around my search for deeper communion, justice, soul searching, and asking the right questions.  I love reading, speaking up, camping, motorcycles, Euchre, the smell of a campfire, road trips, and music.

In 2010, I graduated from Chicago Theological Seminary with a PhD in Theology and Ethics.  My academic interests ignite around liberation theologies, theology and economy, ecclesiology (church), critical social theory and the so-called modern/postmodern divide.  I love reading Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, Reinhold Niebuhr, Bev Harrison, Theodore Adorno, and others.

mattfrizzell.com is just another reflection of me – a reflection always seen through a glass dimly.  (I Cor 13:12)  Through it, however, you can see moments of  inspiration, illumination, provocation, and clarity.   For me, life is a kind of unfolding prayer set to the rhythm of work and study.

We live in scriptural times.  The hardest thing for humans – especially people of privilege – to grasp is that God is God…and more free than we will every be.

Feel free to read, comment, disagree, argue, or question.

Most of all, welcome.