About Us

Matt Schell

Lead Pastor

Matt is the Lead Pastor of Blue Ridge Community Fellowship. Matt and his wife, Annie, along with several other founding families planted Blue Ridge in October 2020. Matt’s responsibilities include preaching, teaching, vision casting, and the general oversight of the ministries of the church.

Matt is passionate about leading people to Jesus and helping people see and understand that God desires to use our life, work, vocation, passions and daily activities as means through which God brings life, redemption, renewal and the Kingdom of God into this world. Matt believes that we all have a role to play in God’s story of redemption.

Matt is originally from Newborn, GA, a small, rural town east of Atlanta. He attended Clemson University on a football scholarship (1998-2001) and graduated from Clemson in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. Upon graduation from Clemson University, Matt earned his Juris Doctor (JD) from Mercer University in 2005. Matt became a member of the South Carolina Bar and remains an active member today. He has practiced law in the areas of residential and commercial real estate, banking and transactional law since 2005.

In 2010, God began to stir Matt to pursue a career in vocational ministry. In the years that followed, Matt enrolled in seminary and began to focus his attention on ministry in Greenville, SC while also practicing law. In 2013, Matt became the Director of Student Ministries at a local church in Greer, SC, where he served until 2015.

In August 2015, the Schell family moved to Wilmore, KY as Matt work to complete his Master of Divinity degree and graduate from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2016. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in Faith, Work and Economics at Asbury.

In August 2017, God called the Schell family to Selma, AL where they served as missionaries in the community of Selma. Matt was a co-founder of a faith-based, entrepreneurial training program that equipped and trained local people in faith-based entrepreneurship in Selma. While in Selma, Matt and his family authored a devotional book, Painted Prayers: A Collection of Prayers and Devotions for Your Family and Community.

God called Matt, Annie, and their three children back to Clemson in August of 2019. Matt and Annie met in 2000 as students at Clemson University. God’s journey for the Schell family has come full circle in their return to Clemson, SC.