By Taylor Stuck, Communications-Writing Major
When Matt Thompson, Josh Tovey and Justin Kemmerer first teamed up on the Clarks Summit University men’s soccer team, they didn’t know they would be teammates again years later—this time as leaders in the same church. Together, they have taken the relationships they developed at CSU beyond graduation and into their ministries at two thriving Redemption Church campuses in Michigan.
Meet Justin Kemmerer
Kemmerer (’06), put his Health and Physical Education major use as assistant athletic director at NorthPointe Christian Schools for nearly eight years before he became one of the founding leaders to launch Redemption Church in Grandville, Michigan, in 2015. Kemmerer became the campus pastor of the Grandville location in 2018.
Kemmerer, who married another alumnus, Allison (Paget) Kemmerer (’06), calls the community at CSU the most valuable part of his education. He says, “There was necessary content and learning involved in my time at CSU, but it was about the people. The greatest influence on me and what prepared me the most for life after CSU came from my relationships.”
Meet Josh Tovey
Tovey (’05) had first come to the school for basketball camp as a high schooler, and Coach Jim Huckaby made a big impact on his life as a student athlete. He says, “Playing soccer was a passion of mine for a long time, but playing at CSU gave me the opportunity to develop life-long relationships.”
Tovey served as a youth pastor for several years before joining Thompson to plant the Grand Rapids campus, where he then became lead pastor a year later. Tovey says, “it’s such an amazing thing to know that we met in college and now get the privilege of serving Jesus together on the same team.”
Meet Matt Thompson
Thompson (’06, ’08) majored in Youth Ministry and then went on to earn his Master of Arts in Biblical Ministry from the Baptist Bible Seminary. Like Tovey, Thompson served as a youth pastor for years before jumping into the church plant. Thompson is now campus pastor at Redemption Church in Grand Rapids, as well as a church planting catalyst at Send Network. He married another graduate of CSU, Bethany (Bosch) Thompson (’05).
Thompson says: “I loved playing Defender soccer with a team of men that came together because we all enjoyed soccer, but went out into the mission field because we all loved Jesus!”
How God is Working at Redemption Church
God has changed many people’s lives through the ministry of Redemption Church, and over 100 people have been baptized in the past five years. God led these three CSU grads to fill a specific need in two areas of Michigan. Thompson says, “it was clear that our community lacked gospel clarity, and so God called us to plant a gospel-centered, Jesus-focused church.”
In turn, these pastors encourage their congregations with the message every week that, “God has you where He has you to advance the gospel through you.”
Kemmerer, Tovey and Thompson have taken the strong relationships that they developed at CSU beyond graduation to reach people for Jesus and cultivate thriving Christian communities at the two Redemption Church locations.
Thompson says, “The benefit of working with CSU grads is a like-minded and a like-hearted approach to ministry. We all desire to keep Jesus at the center of all that we do. This is a non-negotiable foundation for us that was built at CSU and will continue on, for God’s glory!”
