Biography

Pastor Matthew Trewhella

Pastor Matthew Trewhella

The John Birch Society

Matt Trewhella serves as Pastor of Mercy Seat Christian Church, located near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated with honors from Valley Forge Christian College in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Theology. He married Clara Tolnai in 1981, and they have 11 children and 35 grandchildren, including one great-grandchild. He has lectured at hundreds of Christian and political gatherings, and has been a guest on hundreds of radio and television shows. He has also been invited to speak to eleven state legislatures and multiple sheriffs, attorneys general, lieutenant governors, and governors.

He is the author of The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates: A Proper Resistance to Tyranny and a Repudiation of Unlimited Obedience to Civil Government. This is the first book written on the lesser magistrate doctrine in over 300 years. It has sold over 140,000 copies as of January 2024.

He published the first-ever English translation of the Magdeburg Confession (1550), which first formalized the doctrine of the lesser magistrates.

Pastor Trewhella founded Missionaries to the Preborn, the first Christian mission in America to target the preborn child as its people group. Since its foundation in 1990, six of the eight abortion clinics in Milwaukee have closed, and abortion in Wisconsin has dropped by over 60 percent.

He created the Tell the Truth Tours and Campus Town Tours, where large photographs of preborn babies — both developing in the womb and murdered by abortionists — are displayed.

He is the architect of the Tollway Oasis Rescue in which pro-lifers chained themselves to abortionist Aleksander Jakubowski’s Mercedes Benz when he stopped at the highway oasis on his way to Milwaukee on Interstate 94. Pastor Trewhella has spent 15 months in American jails for non-violently interposing at abortion clinics on behalf of preborn babies.

Promotional/Related Material

Significant Figures

View All
John F. McManus
John F. McManus
John F. McManus joined the staff of The John Birch Society in August 1966, serving originally as a field coordinator for several New England states. In 1968, he was transferred to a position at the Society’s national headquarters. In 1973, Mr. McManus accepted the appointment by Robert Welch, the Society’s Founder, as the organization’s Director ...
View Biography
Taylor Caldwell
Taylor Caldwell
Many people in the English-speaking world from the Baby Boomer or earlier generations remember Taylor Caldwell as the author of numerous outstanding novels, among them A Pillar of Iron, Dear and Glorious Physician, and The Captains and the Kings. Even many who never read her fascinating published works may also recall the latter historical novel, ...
View Biography
William Grede
William Grede
Born in 1897 and raised in Milwaukee, Bill Grede went to work at his father’s carriage shop during summers when he was 14. He later worked at Uncle Art’s tire store. The experiences he gained at both taught him two very important lessons: 1) always provide quality products and service; and 2) there is profit ...
View Biography
Augereau G. Heinsohn
Augereau G. Heinsohn
Augereau G. Heinsohn was born in 1896 and lived near Houston. After his service in World War I, Heinsohn returned home and got a job at a cotton goods commission house in New York City, a brokerage firm that acted as an intermediary between the textile mills of the South and the garment industry in ...
View Biography
Nelson Bunker Hunt
Nelson Bunker Hunt
Nelson Bunker Hunt of Texas served as a member of the Council of The John Birch Society from 1976 to 1985 and then from 2007 until his passing. Mr. Hunt was born in El Dorado, Arkansas. His family moved to Tyler, Texas, during his youth, and finally to Dallas. After graduating from the Hill School, ...
View Biography
Garman Kimmell
Garman Kimmell
Garman Kimmell grew up in Wichita, Kansas, in the early 20th century, where his father had moved to pursue his business dealings. Kimmell attended Wichita State University for two years before transferring to the University of Oklahoma because of its strong engineering program. Kimmell graduated in 1937 with a Master of Science degree in Petroleum ...
View Biography
Fred Koch
Fred Koch
Born in 1900 the son of a Dutch immigrant from Quanah, Texas, Fred Koch graduated from MIT in 1922 with a chemical engineering degree. He was first employed by the Texas Company in Port Arthur, Texas, and then by the Medway Oil and Storage Company in Kent, England, where he was chief engineer. Only three ...
View Biography