| Matt's Journey into Life |
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How can a violent drug addict have changed enough to serve as a Church of England vicar? James Hastings finds out  It’s only a short bridge providing a gentle stroll into the heart of the historic City of York. But for Matt Martinson, 35, Lendal Bridge represents a journey between two lives that could hardly be further apart. One centred around armed robbery, drug addiction and unrelenting violence and misery. The second has its roots in forgiveness, change and an answer to a prayer from a loving God. Matt Martinson recently crossed Lendal Bridge to become the Reverend Matt Martinson, an ordained vicar in the Church of England. As he did so, he paused for a moment to recall the other Matt – armed robber and drug addict – who lived, or rather existed, on a rat-infested barge on the banks below. “It’s amazing to think I used to live in a boat under that bridge,” he smiles. “It’s miraculous to look back where I’ve come from, to where I’ve come. It is an opportunity to see God’s grace at work. “It wasn’t anything fancy, just a boat, but it was a roof over my head. But eventually that went, and I ended up sleeping rough in York.” Matt’s story starts in his traumatic childhood at the hands, and often fists, of an alcoholic father who also had a bad drug habit. “My father used to knock me about. Inevitably, that has an effect on you, and I joined the army to get away from that. “It was join the army or go to prison. Eventually I came out of the army and ended up getting heavily involved with drink and drugs. “Every day seemed to be a mix of robbing, drugs and fighting. I drifted easily into a life of crime and violence and I felt helpless.” As his violent lifestyle spiralled out of control, Matt believed it wouldn’t be long before the violence caught up with him and he’d be killed. In fact, he had already tried to kill himself but failed. In the midst of the mess that was his life, Matt turned to God. Although he didn’t go to church and doubted whether God even existed, Matt made a simple prayer which was also a pact. He says: “I made a deal with God. I said to him, ‘If you get me caught alive, I will bow my knee to you.’ “You see, I thought the violence I was living in would kill me.” Shortly after he prayed, Matt held up a post office at gunpoint. It was 1995 and he was caught and then he experienced a miracle – in a police cell. “God got me caught alive,” he laughs. “I was put in a police cell up in Carlisle, and instead of being interviewed straight away, I was left in the cell on my own. “That’s where I heard God speak to me – not audibly – but inside. He said ‘Make a choice’. And I knew then that that was one of those eternity moments, and I had to choose whether I was going to accept God or not. And I just said ‘Yes’ and looked at my life and thought ‘I’m looking at a severe prison sentence, I’m in a hell-hole, what more of a mess can you make? I’ve made it this bad, what can you do?’” Matt was given 11 years. Prison was tough, but a prison chaplain at the Wolds, in East Yorkshire, David Casswell, took him under his wing and he eventually served just four years before being paroled.  After coming out of prison, Matt went to live with another chaplain and continued his spiritual journey, ending up at Bridlington where he met his future wife Haley in church. “I loved going to church and reading the Bible. I couldn’t get enough of God.” Matt and Hayley have been married for 10 years and have a nine-year-old son, Seth. “I was really excited about my ordination, but it’s taken a long way to get here,” he says. “When I crossed over Lendal Bridge on my way from the train station I thought about when I lived in a boat under that bridge. It shows that no matter where you are, what you’ve done or how useless you think you are, God sees you. “He knows you by name. He loves you and has a plan for you.” |
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