Dr. John Ed Mathison is the Senior Minister of the Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, one of the fastest growing United Methodist Churches in America. Frazer has the largest Sunday School attendance for United Methodist Churches in America.
In 1986 the Church Leadership Institute cited Frazer as the fastest growing church of any denomination in Alabama. Frazer has an average worship attendance for the four Sunday services of over 4,500. Frazer's morning worship service is televised nationwide each week on Odyssey, INS, and AM NET, which reaches 80 million homes! The Frazer Family Hour is shown each Sunday in 22 countries in Europe reaching 167 million homes!
Frazer is committed to involving lay people in ministry. Eighty-three percent of the resident members are involved in a specific area of ministry. Frazer also has a strong commitment to missions. Thirty-five percent of the total budget is allocated to missions.
In 1994 Dr. Mathison was selected as the National Clergyman of the Year by The Religious Heritage Foundation.
He has written three books. Tried and True, published by Discipleship Resources, lists 11 church growth principles utilized by Frazer for designing and implementing its ministry. Every Member in Ministry tells Frazer's story of how to get lay people involved in meaningful ministry and how to avoid inactive members. Fishing for Birds is a collection of 122 bulletin-front messages from Dr. Mathison to the Frazer congregation. He has also written articles for Decision Magazine, The Circuit Rider, and other religious periodicals.
Dr. Mathison graduated from Opelika High School, attended Young Harris Junior College, received a BA Degree from Huntingdon College, BD Degree from Candler School of Theology, a Th.M. Degree from Princeton University, and the Doctor of Ministry Degree from Candler School of Theology.
Dr. Mathison was All-State Basketball Player for three years in high school and was captain and leading scorer for Huntingdon College, He is consistently ranked number one in his age division in tennis in Alabama and recently was ranked number three in the South. He has won 7 state racquetball championships.
For several years Dr. Mathison has served as Platform Speaker for the National Conference of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Platform Speaker for the National Hi-Y Tri-Hi-Y Conference at Black Mountain, North Carolina. Twice he has been the Platform Speaker for the Protestant Retreat at the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs.
He was selected as "Man of the Year" in Montgomery for 1978 and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Jaycees in 1979. In August 1988 he was awarded the Paul Grist Memorial Award for Service to Youth during the YMCA High School Values Conference at Blue Ridge, North Carolina. He serves on the Board of Directors of Colonial Bank and Colonial Bancgroup, Board of Directors of the Montgomery YMCA, and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness.
He has a wife, Lynn, and they have three daughters, Vicki, Lauren, and Clay, and one son, Si.