Pastor Matthew Kobs (email) was born on October 16, 1984, in La Mesa, California. He was baptized by his father at Christ Lutheran Church in La Mesa and attended Christ Lutheran School until moving to Russellville, Arkansas, in 1991. He was confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran in Russellville and graduated from Russellville High School before attending the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where he earned a BA in Spanish, with a minor in Computer Science. Pastor Kobs began his studies at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in 2006, doing his fieldwork at Hope Lutheran in St. Ann. He served his vicarage at Holy Cross Lutheran in Mobile, Alabama, and graduated with his M. Div. in 2010.

Pastor Kobs’ first call was to Galilee Lutheran Church in Chester, Maryland. He served there for three years before accepting a call to Concordia Publishing House in 2015 to serve as a software developer. At CPH he has had the opportunity to serve the wider Church by developing and maintaining tools like Lutheran Service Builder and Church 360, as well as mobile apps like Portals of Prayer. Pastor Kobs and his family began attending Ascension soon after moving to St. Louis and became members not long after that.

Pastor Kobs met his wife Anna during his final years of study at Concordia Seminary through mutual friends Rev. Matthew and Kali Wood. Anna, an alumnus of Valparaiso University, served a number of years in China and Taiwan, teaching English and working with a non-profit organization specializing in education and water projects in remote areas of China. They have one son, Hunter, who is four years old and adores anything to do with trains or railroad crossings.

Pastor Kobs enjoys tinkering with computers, (even during his time off), the Botanical Gardens, the zoo, Blues City Deli, and of course Ted Drewes.