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Livermore native Lt. Jg. Steven Matkins will achieve a milestone in his journey to serve as a chaplain in the United States Navy this fall.
Matkins, nearing the end of his five-year education and training, is scheduled to be deployed to Japan to serve on the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier with about 5,000 crew members. It’s been quite a road to his calling.
He grew up in Livermore and attended Livermore High School and was active in the local Church of Christ. During that time, he felt the urging to serve in ministry. In high school, he played the trombone in the marching and concert bands as well as playing lacrosse. His lacrosse cost him when he and his buddies wanted to enlist in the Marines after graduation. Two collapsed lungs rendered him medically ineligible.
Instead he advanced to college and graduated from Pepperdine University with majors in Italian and religion after “suffering” for four years overlooking in the Pacific Ocean from the bluffs of Malibu. He had checked out various ministry opportunities and decided to pursue chaplaincy. It’s a challenging program involving earning a masters of divinity degree plus plenty of specialized training in counseling to prepare for the job. He was accepted in Officer Development School in Newport, RI.
He finished most of the program and graduated from Denver Seminary in 2023. He is now working at Littleton Church of Christ. He spent his summers doing on-the-job training, but missed on the chance to serve on a ship at sea while spending a summer in Norfolk, Va.
He said that unlike traditional church ministry where pastors wait for people to approach them, chaplaincy is a ministry of presence where they are doing whatever their team is doing whether that’s deploying to sea or grubbing it in the dirt in a tent. Living just like their crewmates is a given for chaplains.
Matkins credits his youth pastor in Livermore, Jacob Parnell, in teaching him early of the importance of presence. He remembers Parnell showing up for his band concerts and lacrosse games — being present. Parnell is now the preaching pastor at the Tri-Valley Church of Christ on East Avenue in Livermore.
He’s excited as he prepares for active duty later this fall as he approaches his 30th birthday.
Another recent press release from the Navy communications office highlighted Petty Officer 3rd Class Edwin Tayo, who is training for a maintenance squadron for Navy aircraft in Washington. He graduated from Granada High in 2014.
