Max Brennan: Senior Pastor

Max Brennan is a graduate of Kemp High School, North Texas State University, and Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He was a high school teacher of English and speech before entering the ministry. During those teaching years, he had an ongoing ministry with church youth.

In 1980, while ill with something that at first seemed serious, Max realized that he did not have the final say over his life. Kneeling in prayer at the foot of his bed, he said, “Lord, I now see that my life is not my own. I give to you that which is already yours.” And he felt in that moment a sense of complete surrender.

A few days later, he became aware of how far that surrender had taken him. In spite of the difficulty of giving up his career and starting all over again at 37, he knew that he was headed for the ministry. It was a done deal. No more thought is required. It had all been decided in that moment of surrender.

He began to make plans to enter Perkins School of Theology and to seek an appointment to a church to serve while in theology school. He was sent to a small, dying church in East Fort Worth.

The church revived – and he’s been there ever since!

Max Brennan has served one church – Saint Matthew UMC – for the 40 years he has been in ministry. This is an unusual situation in Methodism, but the Methodist Church is open to unusual situations if they happen to serve the work of the Lord.

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Mary Teague, MDiv., BSN, RN : Associate Pastor

Mary serves as the Associate Pastor at Saint Matthew having completed a Master of Divinity degree at Perkins School of Theology in 2018. Mary also has a BSN from Texas Tech School of Nursing and for 27 years has also worked as a registered nurse with Texas Health Resources.

Currently, Mary is the Supportive and Palliative Care and Hospice Program Coordinator at Texas Health Fort Worth Hospital. Prior to this role Mary worked at Texas Health Arlington Memorial as the Hospice, Resource Pool, and Dialysis Nursing Supervisor.

Mary has 2 sons, 1 daughter, 1 daughter-in-law and 4 grandchildren. Mary lives in East Fort Worth with her two dogs, Midnight and Taco. “I am passionate about nursing and pastoring and believe that the care of our spirit should take priority no matter the profession in which we serve. I am honored to be a part of the congregation at Saint Matthew.

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Kristi Moore: Organist

Kristi was born in Wichita, Kansas and 9 years later moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. She started playing the organ at age 16 and began her first church organist job at Community Christian Church, Tulsa during her senior year in high school.

Kristi moved to Fort Worth, Texas in 1992 to attend Texas Christian University in pursuit of a degree in speech-language pathology. At that time, she became the church organist for Saint Matthew UMC. While at TCU, she also studied organ (1992-1996) under Emmet G. Smith and Guillermo Martinez. She graduated from TCU with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 1996 and a Master of Science in the same field in 1998.

Kristi and her husband, Steven, moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1999 where she served as the organist for Larkspur Christian Church. She served in that capacity and also as interim choir director until her return to Fort Worth in December 2001. After arriving back in Texas, Kristi returned as an organist for Saint Matthew in March 2002.

Kristi is currently employed as a speech-language pathologist for Early Childhood Intervention of North Central Texas (ECI-NCT). She provides home-based speech therapy services to children (ages birth to 3 years old) and their families. In her spare time, Kristi plays soccer in a women’s recreational division of the Fort Worth Adult Soccer Association. She and Steven can often be seen at TCU football and soccer games as well.