Matt Murphy is the chief financial and operating officer at Sojourners. He brings an eclectic background to the role, including a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., and experience as a project manager on an MRI research and development team with Siemens based at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. During his time with Siemens, he earned an MBA from University of Maryland Global Campus before transitioning careers to ministry and nonprofit work.
Matt is an ordained pastor and has been a part of starting and serving on the pastoral staff of nondenominational churches in Baltimore and Annapolis, Md. Prior to working for Sojourners, Matt worked for Stadia, a religious nonprofit focused on helping leaders start new churches that will thrive, grow, and multiply. Matt served as the director of global church planting, vice president of operations, and most recently, chief operations officer. In addition to working with Stadia, he has consulted with many other churches and nonprofits to help them align their operations with their mission by developing dynamic strategies and strengthening esprit de corps. He has written about communication and leadership in nonprofit contexts for Speak With People.
Matt lives in North Beach, Md., with his wife, two kids, and a chihuahua named Ravenclaw. When he’s not working, you can find him listening to all kinds of music, playing the bass guitar, or enjoying a local adventure with his family.
Speaking Topics
- Leadership in Faith-Based Nonprofits and Churches
- Strategic Planning and Strategy Development
- Team Building/Esprit de Corps
- Church Planting
- Churches Making Local Impact
Speaking Format
- In-person
- Virtual
- Preaching
Languages
- English
Posts By This Author
Haunted by the Heat
Hot Halloween. Cold cider.
BUTT-HEAD. That was my costume the last time I went trick or treating. It was 1995, and one of my friends, sporting a homemade blue Metallica shirt, went as Beavis. For hours that night, I walked the streets of an Annapolis, Md., suburb saying, “Uh, huh, huh, like, trick or treat and stuff” to bemused neighbors as we wound our way through a sea of Woodys, Buzz Lightyears, and Carmen Sandiegos.
Career Planning Rocks!
Standing on the firm foundation of my geology degree.
MY DAUGHTER LEAVES for college in a few weeks, and there’s been an uptick in “for the rest of my life”-type conversations at our house. Since graduating from college, I have been a musician, a hotline operator, a collections specialist, an accountant, a project manager, a pastor, a consultant, and an executive in a faith-based social justice nonprofit. And I have a bachelor’s degree in geology. It rocks. My career path has been much more of a hiking trail with poor signage than a career ladder.
Lenten Loopholes
Even as a child, my flexible way of living out my Lenten fast was rooted in God’s call to care for others.
DID YOU KNOW you can win Lent?
I’ve been working on winning Lent since my upper-elementary days in Catholic Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes at St. Andrew by the Bay. Since then, I have made annual declarations on or around Ash Wednesday about what I am giving up for Lent. As a young person, I would summon as much gravitas as I could muster in my preteen voice and proclaim, with a Dr Pepper in hand, “This year, I’m giving up sugar!” or “This year, I’m giving up MTV.”
Did You Know That Iceland Has Nearly One Sheep per Person?
You would think a country with this ratio would excel at containing sheep. Nope.
A COUPLE OF years ago, my son and I were in Iceland walking through the Fljótsdalshreppur valley toward the Hengifoss waterfall. Roughly halfway through our walk, I had a welcome distraction from wondering how to pronounce Fljótsdalshreppur when we came upon a fence with a closed gate. A sign in English and Icelandic said, “Please close the gate so the sheep won’t escape.”
We’d passed several sheep prior to reaching the gate, and a quick look ahead revealed several clusters of sheep beyond the gate. A new mental exercise: Which sheep were the escapees?
While the number of sheep in Iceland has decreased steadily since 1980—my son and I are only partially responsible for the decline, having spent seven days steadily consuming pylsur, or Icelandic hot dogs, featuring lamb as a main ingredient—there are still nearly one sheep per person. You would think a country with this human-to-sheep ratio would excel at containing sheep. Nope.