Staff
Pastor: Rev. Matt Conner
Matt Conner has been at Newell since 2017 and is a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary. Matt grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he majored in Economics and Religious Studies. This is his first full-time call, but his prior ministry experience includes prison chaplaincy, campus ministry, hospital chaplaincy, and serving as an intern at Decatur Presbyterian Church.
Matt is married to his high school sweetheart, Sarah, and they have two boys— Eli (6) and Amos (3). They also have two dogs, Bo and Willow, neither of which knows they are actually a dog. He is passionate about community development, the outdoors, traveling, Southern food, and anything involving the Carolina Panthers or UNC Tar Heels.
Contact Matt to learn more about Newell Presbyterian Church!
Director of Music: Beau Stroupe
Beau Stroupe returned to his Gastonia roots and settled back in Charlotte after working and living in New York, NY, Nashville, TN and Atlanta, GA. Beau’s background is in Arts and Arts Administration. He has worked as an actor, singer, songwriter professionally as well as serving as an arts judge and mentor. Beau currently teaches over 40 private students pursing careers in the arts and, more specifically, in Musical Theater. He is a published and recorded songwriter and currently serves as a Blumenthal judge for High School Musical Theater.
Having grown up in the church, Beau has worked over the years in many mainline denominations in roles ranging from Youth Minister to Choir Director and Worship Arts Pastor. Beau is happy to be at home with the sweet folks of Newell Presbyterian Church, who model a loving life of service and community. His greatest “productions” are his 4 children Abbye, Zach, Hope and Noah, his 2 sons by marriage Phillip Wennerstrom and Dallas Wigston, and the newest addition to his family, Ezra Isaiah Wennerstrom, his first grandson.
Beau’s focus is to help provide a welcoming and warm experience of worship through music and the arts at Newell Presbyterian, where there’s always room for one more in the choir. For more information about music and worship at NPC, contact Beau!