Matt Puckett
Program Director
—
Matt Puckett serves as Program Director of West End Church, overseeing Children & Youth programming, community justice work, and other activities and events where we build fellowship. He is also a Member in Discernment in the United Church of Christ, continuing his education and training on the path to ordained ministry.
Originally from Austin, TX, Matt earned his Bachelor’s at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, where he studied sociology and theology with an emphasis on urban poverty. Upon graduating, Matt returned to Austin where he took several years to work in professional music. During this time, he toured regularly, founded and directed a summer camp, produced several records, and won (along with his collaborators) a Grammy for Best Children’s Album. In 2017, he returned to New York City to focus specifically on children’s music.
Reflecting on shifts in the larger culture—and, specifically, the role of Christianity in America—Matt returned to his theological interests in 2019 by enrolling at Union Theological Seminary, where he further explored the questions that structure and animate his spiritual life: What are the socioeconomic implications of the gospel for a Christian in modern America? What are our responsibilities, our ethics? Who are we to ourselves, and who are we to our neighbors? And, ultimately, where and how do we locate God in all of this?
While the import of these questions seems only to have increased since joining West End Church in 2022, Matt continues to believe that God calls us to explore these questions together, in beloved community.
Fun fact
Matt can, in fact, tell you how to get to Sesame Street. In 2018 he had the distinct honor of visiting the set on the day that they were filming a song he wrote with his children’s music collaborators. He happily confirms that, thirty years later, Ernie is still his friend.
