Matt Cox Oral History

Abstract

Oral history interview with Matt Cox conducted by Emily Stratton in Lawrence, Kansas, on July 16, 2013. This interview features Matt Cox, the planter and lead pastor of EastLake Community Church. EastLake Community Church is a non-denominational church-plant that was launched in Lawrence, Kansas in 2009. As EastLake recently produced a documentary video about its origins and history, questions in this interview do not repeat what has already been recorded. This video is available for viewing from the Religion in Kansas Project archives, and its transcription is also available there. It is recommended that the video or video transcript be viewed prior to reading this present interview transcript. Interview questions here are further follow-up questions, based upon the history as presented in the video. After hearing bit more background to Matt’s personal history, interview questions focus primarily upon four topics: first, a breakdown of EastLake’s funding and financial resources before launching in Lawrence; second, what was required of Matt in order to transition his career in video game programming into being a lead pastor and church planter; third, some of the challenges faced during EastLake’s “desert period” in which securing a permanent location was a major difficulty; and fourth, some projections for EastLake’s future, now that a permanent location has been secured. This interview was conducted for the Religion in Kansas Project as part of a summer fieldwork internship funded by the Friends of the Department of Religious Studies.