Music & Worship Ministry Leadership

Matt Russell, Pastor of Worship

Matt has been on staff with CFC since 1999. He served as Sr. High youth pastor from 1999 to 2007. In 2007 he moved into the role of Pastor of Worship, leading weekly in the morning services, overseeing the ministry to young adults, and serving as a counselor in CFC's counseling ministry.

Matt went to Regent University from 1994 to 1996 where he received his Master of Arts in Counseling. He worked for two years in a boys' home with troubled teens and their families. He and his wife Kristi moved to Jacksonville in the summer of 1998 to be near family and began attending CFC that summer. He is currently a student at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, where he is working on his Master of Divinity.

Matt and Kristi have been married for 15 years and have two children: Emma Grace and Matthew Tobias (Toby). His favorite part of being a pastor at CFC is leading others with him into worshiping our Great God and seeing people surrender their lives to Him.

Shirley Elliott, Worship Associate
Shirley has been involved in music at CFC for the last 22 years. Her husband of 33 years went home to be with the Lord two years ago and her daughter lives in California and is in nursing school there. Shirley attended Bob Jones University and then later graduated from Jacksonville University with a B.M. in piano performance. Besides serving in the worship ministry, Shirley is a lay counselor at CFC. She is NANC certified and has a Master’s Degree in Biblical Counseling from the Master’s College. The Lord opened her heart to the gospel at a young age through the ministry of Child Evangelism Fellowship. The first Sunday she attended church, after trusting Christ, the Lord gave her a desire to play the piano. She currently teaches piano privately and accompanies voice lessons at the University of North Florida. One of her favorite hymns is “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and a favorite portion of scripture is Habakkuk 3:17-19. “No matter what the loss, God desires that we praise Him and rejoice that He is the God of our salvation.”