2000 Houlton HS grad finds ‘beat of a different drum’ in Michigan city

The beat of a different drum is what former Houlton resident Matthew Deprez discovered when he left the Shiretown.
“I knew I probably wasn’t going to stay,” he said. “I was ready to experience something bigger than Houlton. It took me a few years to get there. But, had no idea I would be living in a city as large as I do.”
    Deprez and his wife Megan (formerly Beers of Houlton) and son Isaiah live a mile from a downtown area of 1.3 million people in Grand Rapids.
“We bought a house and we are like we are domesticated there,” he added.
Deprez, a 2000 graduate of Houlton High School, thought he’d be going to the city to study drum performance since he had played percussion throughout his life. But, plans changed. And they were altered dramatically.
“I became a Christian and everything changed,” he said. “I took a semester off, but four months later, I was at Bethany Bible College (Sussex, N.B.) studying to be a pastor. My life, literally, turned around. I became a happy person. I became unbelievably joyful.”
Deprez graduated from Bethany Bible College in 2005 with a B.A. in religion with a youth ministry working with students 6-12 grade and was hired a month later to work at Sturgis Wesleyan Church, where he worked a six-month internship.
“I was hired on by that church and worked there for about 2 1/2 years total,” he said. “I moved up to Grand Rapids to start graduate school. From there, I ended up at Frontline Community Church.”
Deprez is still working through his masters since he had to take time off to help lead a growing church.
“Our church grew so quickly that I actually had to take some time off from my master’s program,” he said. “The last four years since I have been on staff, we have baptized 500 people and 600 to 700 have become Christians. It’s been really exciting.”
Frontline Community Church was formerly a grocery store corporate headquarters building.
“It’s like walking into Walmart, gutting the whole building and converting it into a church,” Deprez explained. “It is 110,000 square feet of ugly brick. But, it’s booming.”
With the heavy growth of the church, Deprez may have undergone his own transformation.
“I realized there is something to this whole talking about Jesus thing,” he said.
Having an extroverted personality, Deprez had no problem relating to people. But what has astonished him is his capability to pen his thoughts.
“I never thought I would write – ever,” he said.
In August of 2008, he published his first book “Rediscovering Jesus: The Art of Taking Christianity Seriously” — a collection of essays  and other written pieces Deprez had written over time, along with conversations that he had with people. He lumped it into one book.
“The essays and memoirs fell into my lap,” he said. “I had people who were supportive of it — big enough to get it out there — when I didn’t have a speaking platform. Writing was never an aspiration of mine. But, I absolutely love it. It has been great.”
Since his first book was published, Deprez has worked with the staff at the Frontline Community Church to author a second book called “Why We Are Unashamedly Intergenerational” in March of 2010. The book is a collection of ideas and thoughts from the entire church staff.
“In the beginning of 2009, we read statistics about faith retention of students and what faith retention looked like after high school for students,” Deprez explained. “The statistics are shockingly low to us.”
The study was done by Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary in California.
“One of the things they talked about regarding faith retention that they see as a sticking point for students is intergenerational ministry – adults working with students and students working with adults – teaching each other about Jesus.”
Based upon the statistics, Frontline Community Church implemented intergenerational practices at their church. Deprez noted that the church probably has 700 or 800 people who are in their 20s.
“It’s been very difficult to be intergenerational from that perspective,” he said. “However in the last year, one of the largest growing demographics of our church has been 60 and above, which is really interesting.”
From the church’s experience, the staff learned the material was valuable to others.
“We wrote a piece about why we are intergenerational for the church and marketed the manuscript as a free download,” said Deprez. “At least others get a picture of the vision we are trying to create.”
The staff discovered that the text was applicable all over the world.
The copy is separated into three categories: First, the state of the church; second, the Biblical mandate of not thinking Christianity is a passing fad or a trend, but it is Bibically rooted; and third, practical, applicational and conceptual ideas.
Though Deprez’s first work didn’t take off, the second he helped compose has impacted people around the world.
“People are literally interested and fascinated by it,” Deprez said.
Since Frontline Community Church still owns the rights to the book, Deprez would like to work on a follow up or expand the e-book manuscript.
“I am working with the Wesleyan Church headquarters with a gentleman to combine the piece,” Deprez said. “He will write the text and combine it to the existing book. We would like to sell the rights to that one.”
Deprez said Houlton provided an unbelievable growing up experience, but he was ready to get out and see the world.
“We love western Michigan,” he said. “We love the culture. It’s diverse. It’s big. It’s exciting and stuff is happening every single day. But, I love coming back to Houlton.  It’s quiet and it is so nice being back.”
Deprez’s future plans are to be a pastor, keep writing and speaking. But, the most important aspects, showing his love for Jesus and being a family man.