Waitley named pastor of Ogallala New Hope Church

Seven years ago, Matt Waitley of Grant began his journey that would lead him to this past Sunday, Sept. 23, when he became the senior pastor of New Hope Church in Ogallala. 

He replaced Eric Wait, who served as senior pastor for 39 years. Wait will assume Waitley’s previous role of associate pastor.

While serving on a mission trip in India in 2011, Waitley said the Lord showed him he would one day serve as pastor of New Hope Church. He began to pray about it, but his wife Sandy was not on board with being a pastor’s wife. 

“At that point I said, ‘OK God, if this is really from you, you’ll have to show Sandy and make it clear to her, because I’m not going to do this without her blessing,’” Waitley said.

As time went on, he continued to serve the church and work his three businesses which consisted of cattle, agronomy and seed corn.

“We were at a place in life where we had everything we ever wanted. There wasn’t any real reason for me to want to change careers other than I really felt like God spoke to my heart while I was in India,” he said.

In 2014, Waitley filled in for Wait at a service, as he had done many times before. A crying Sandy approached Matt after the service. She said she didn’t know what happened, but God made it clear to her that he was to be the next pastor of New Hope Church. 

From there, they began to watch God confirm it through different avenues. 

In discussing a succession plan for replacing Wait, he and Waitley approached the elder’s board. Wait told them he felt Waitley was the man to replace him, and each one of the board members said they already knew that.

“It’s just crazy how God confirmed it through every step of the way,” said Waitley.

In 2015, he joined the New Hope staff full time, and said the process has been very seamless. He said Wait is an amazing man of God and they have a great relationship. “If I can be half the pastor he is, then I’ll be fine. He’s done a great job.”

Waitley said there’s no way he could’ve accomplished this without Sandy. 

“She’s amazing. She’s been very supportive. This hasn’t all been easy, but she has been really amazing through this whole thing.”

He said they’ve been involved in the church for 17 years, and they developed a lot of good relationships early on. 

“People know us, we know them. They are like family to us and we love them.”

New Hope is both a Berean church and Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) due to a merger in 2006. Waitley completed a three-year seminary and is now an ordained Berean pastor and a licensed EFCA pastor. He will become a fully ordained EFCA pastor in a year. 

While they still have some cattle, Waitley has sold the agronomy and seed corn businesses to devote full time to his pastoral duties. 

The Waitley family moved to Grant in 2000 and began attending New Hope in 2001. Sandy is a second grade teacher at Perkins County Schools. The couple has two children, Caden, a senior at Perkins County Schools, and Carlie, who just received her physical therapy assistant degree.