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Dr. Mathison was born and raised in Cartersville, Georgia.  He was licensed to the ministry in 1974 and was ordained in 1978, at the age of 19, by Peeples Valley Baptist Church where he grew up.  Dr. Mathison is a graduate of Shorter College in Rome, Georgia, and has earned Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry Degrees from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  His previous pastorates include Friendship Baptist Church in Cartersville from 1979 to 1985, Norton Park Baptist Church in Smyrna from 1985 to 1995, and First Baptist Church, Avondale Estates, GA from 1995 to 2003.  He has been serving as Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church in Waycross, GA since January, 2003.

His doctoral project dealt with practical ministry to senior adults, and he has served as an adjunct professor at the North Georgia extension campus of the New Orleans Seminary.  Dr. Mathison has been active in the Georgia Baptist convention, serving on various committees including the Church Revitalization Team, a group which has studied plateaued and declining churches and which has made recommendations on programs to facilitate renewed growth.  He has also held numerous positions of responsibility in the Cherokee, Noonday, and Atlanta Baptist Associations and has been active in various service organizations in each community in which he has served. 

Dr. Mathison is married to the former Carol Elizabeth Hurley, and they have two daughters.  Lainey, and Jessie Ann.

Dr. Mathison is a man who is dedicated to serving God as both a preacher and a pastor.  He bases his sermons and his pastoral service to his flock on the scriptures, and he invests a great deal of time visiting and caring for his membership.  He is a Southern Baptist and a Georgia Baptist who believes in the importance of the Cooperative Program and in the necessity of missions at home and abroad.   Dr. Mathison believes that a strong Sunday School program is essential to a vital and growing church.