Pastor Matthew Weber has opened Shawano Baptist Church. He said there was a need for an independent fundamental church in Shawano.
“We were directed this way through the Wisconsin Fellowship of Baptist Churches,” said Weber, who moved here with his wife, Megan, and children, Jeremiah, 3, and Jenilee, 2.
“I’m a church planter,” he said. “A lot of churches start that way.”
Services are being held at the former Security Financial office at 102 E. Green Bay St. A 9 a.m. Discovery Bible Study is followed each Sunday by morning worship services at 10:45 a.m. and evening services at 6 p.m. There is a midweek service at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
“We hope to accomplish a refuge,” Weber said. “A place where real people can find real answers.”
Weber began a life of addiction when he was a teen to get back at his parents, who divorced when he was a toddler. After years of drugs and alcohol, he hit bottom and went to church. When Weber found his way to God, his life changed dramatically, he said.
“I now have a purpose,” he said.
Weber is open about his past life, which he said came from his broken relationship with God.
“It puts me in a better position to show people how the Bible applies to their situation,” he said.
Weber found that his addictions were an escape from life, like so many other people also use them to mask their pain, he said.
“We’re trying to solve our problems with anything other than God,“ Weber said. “When we don’t see them through spiritual lenses, we have to evaluate them in the human realm.”
The church holds to fundamental doctrines and revolves around the Bible as the literal word of God.
“It’s a living book,” Weber said.
After five years at the Baptist College of Ministry in Menomonee Falls, he moved to Corydon, Iowa, to Victory Baptist Church for 18 months before coming to Shawano.
“The Bible is the answer to every problem in life,” Weber said.
For information, call 715-201-1176.
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