Biography of Bishop Fred Matthews, Jr.

Bishop Fred Matthews, Jr. is a native of Chicago, IL, and serves as the Senior Pastor of Triumphant Church in Nashville, TN.

He received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost at an early age while attending True Church of Holiness with his grandmother. Soon after, his father, Fred Matthews, Sr., became Pastor of Mt. Zion Church of God in Christ, where Bishop Matthews spent most of his childhood developing a relationship with Jesus Christ. At the age of 16, he started attending the Apostolic Church of God under the pastoral leadership of Bishop Arthur Brazier. There, he received the revelation of the Godhead and was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. He served at Apostolic Church of God until he graduated from high school and went away to college. While working on his master's degree, Bishop Matthews started attending Temple Pentecostal Assembly Church. There, he met his wife and accepted his call into the ministry under the pastoral leadership of Bishop Sherman Dunlap, Sr.

As a pastor, entrepreneur, and community activist, Bishop Matthews has received numerous awards, recognitions, accomplishments, and civic memberships. He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology from Shaw University in Raleigh, NC. He then earned a Master of Science Degree in Speech & Hearing Science and a Master of Education Degree in Special Education from Tennessee State University, graduating with high honors. Bishop Matthews completed his certification and clinical fellowship in Speech Language Pathology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the VA Hospital in Nashville, TN.

He is a member of various organizations, including Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society, the Southern Christian Leadership Council, and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated, where he served as a past president and was named the 2019 Sigma Man of the Year.

Bishop Matthews has received numerous community-based awards. As a student, he led the Shaw University Debate Team to win the CIAA Championship. As a senior pastor and community leader, he has received honorary awards from former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell, Senator Thelma Harper, Councilwoman Erica Gilmore, Representative Harold Love, Councilman Decosta Hastings, Judge Russell Perkins, and Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto.

In 2017, Bishop Matthews appeared on the Dr. Bobby Jones Gospel Show to receive the Music City Humanitarian Award for his work in the Nashville community. The following year, he received the Community Trailblazers Award at the Music City Gospel Awards Show. Three years after starting a second work just outside Nashville, Bishop Matthews made a positive impact in the city of Lebanon, prompting Mayor Randall Hutto to name April 28th "Bishop Fred Matthews Jr. Day" in Wilson County.

Bishop Matthews received his ministerial licensing as a member of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World under Diocesan Bishop Sherman Merritt. He later joined the International Alliance of Apostolic Ministries, where he faithfully served and was consecrated to the office of Assistant Presider under the leadership of Bishop Rick August. After two decades of preaching and fellowship with many friends within the PCAFI, on January 1, 2024, the Lord led Bishop Matthews to join his fellow brethren in the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith International and serve  under the leadership of Presiding Prelate, the Honorable Bishop Lambert Gates.

Among all his accomplishments, Bishop Matthews is most proud of his family. On February 13, 1999, he married Allison Matthews, and together they are the proud parents of four beautiful daughters.