How discipleship turned a police officer into a pastor

Would you clean restrooms part time if it meant following God’s call?

Would you invest time and money discipling someone knowing God may call them to leave your church to expand His kingdom?

These are the questions DJ Mathews, pastor of Cross Church in Phoenix, and Gary Derbyshire, senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Glendale, faced when they first met in early 2022.

Mathews had recently left the Peoria Police Department to follow a call to ministry. Derbyshire felt called to disciple and train men. The result is what happens when you intentionally identify and invest in “Who’s Your Next?”

‘A spiritual slap in the face’

After a decade of being a police officer, Mathews realized his passion for police work had become an idol.

“I served police work. I prioritized police work. I idolized police work,” Mathews said. His marriage suffered.

God used his marriage almost falling apart to get his attention. He calls it his “spiritual slap in the face.”

God broke Mathews’ heart only to rebuild it to follow Him. His marriage and life changed for the better.

An elder at the church he was attending noticed the change and invited him to start teaching adult Sunday classes. His love for teaching God’s Word eventually turned into a call to ministry.

Called to disciple-making

For Derbyshire, meeting Mathews allowed him to live out his own call to disciple-making.

Mathews’ mom, who was Grace Baptist’s church administrator at the time, had seen a change in her son. She asked Derbyshire to meet with Mathews to encourage him.

The men met and had a conversation about honing Mathews’ calling and gifts.

About a year later, Mathews was completing his Master of Divinity degree and knew he needed a mentor to show him how to pastor. He reached out to Derbyshire.

“I didn’t have a program in place. I just knew God wanted me to train up leaders for the local church,” Derbyshire said.

So Derbyshire agreed to hire Mathews as his first pastoral intern. The only problem was it was a part-time salary and Mathews couldn’t support his family on that.

The solution? Grace Baptist had an open part-time custodian position.

So, over the next year, Mathews used his mornings to participate in sermon prep, counseling, meetings and dealing with church issues. In the afternoon he cleaned, vacuumed, emptied trash and took care of the campus.

Eventually, Grace Baptist hired him as the discipleship pastor. Derbyshire continued to mentor and train him.

From police officer to pastor

Chad Kritenbrink, executive pastor at Cross Church in Surprise, had been Mathews’ youth and college leader years earlier, but they had lost touch. They reconnected at a Diamondbacks game hosted by Thrive Baptist Network.

Kritenbrink kept Mathews in mind for any openings with Cross Church, and when they had an opening for a lead pastor at the Phoenix campus, Kritenbrink reached out to him. Mathews left Grace and started at Cross Church Phoenix in November 2024.

Pastor DJ Mathews preaches at Cross Church in Phoenix.

The three pastors all saw this as a win for the kingdom.

Mathews sees God’s hand in preparing him for his new role at Cross Church through Derbyshire’s discipling of him.

“I was exposed to the nuts and bolts of ministry,” Mathews said. “Gary didn’t hide any part of ministry from me. He taught me everything seminary doesn’t teach. It’s a big part of why I’m here at Cross Church.”

‘Useful to God’s kingdom’

Derbyshire sees discipling your “Next” as a kingdom investment.

“One of the issues I hear with ‘Who’s Your Next’ thinking is, ‘What if I invest in him and he leaves?'” Derbyshire said. “Well, you need to be useful to God’s kingdom, not your own kingdom.”

Kritenbrink appreciates Derbyshire’s perspective.

“I really admire Gary’s open-handedness, him being kingdom-minded,” Kritenbrink said. “Pastors can be territorial, but he has a missions mindset.”

All three men see the importance of “Who’s Your Next?”

“In the next five to 10 years we’re facing a church leadership vacuum,” Kritenbrink said. “If we’re not intentional about training our ‘Next,’ lots of churches are going to close.”

All agree the gospel is advanced when pastors train the next pastors and they go out from there.

“We’ve benefitted so much from training up pastors,” Derbyshire said. “We can’t be upset if God sends them out into the world. If we are, God will stop sending them to us.”

Mathews recognizes the importance of having his own “Next.”

“I have three guys who are a part of the [North American Mission Board Send Network] regional residency that helps me develop and raise up leaders,” he said. “I don’t know where it will lead, but I know I had to start early.

“We need to remember, it’s not about self. It’s obedience to disciple others. We’re all replaceable, and we should be training someone who could replace us. We should do it as early as possible.”

Tony Young, a freelance writer living in Phoenix, is executive pastor at CityView Church in Phoenix.