MEET THE TEAM

OUR PEOPLE

Lead Pastors / Worship & Creative Arts
Pastor Chris Mathis is a voice to this generation preaching a message of life-giving hope through Jesus. He desires to see people equipped with their right identity as a “beloved” son or daughter and out of that identity live the abundant life of peace Jesus spoke of. Chris has a passion for church planting and oversees the Summit Church Movement, a grassroots church planting movement that he and his wife Nikki Mathis founded in 2009 in Florida.
Pastor Nikki Mathis is the founder & director of Summit Sounds, an international collective of worship leaders/artists from the many communities and campuses of The Summit Church. She gives her life to see people encounter the presence of God through worship. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), Nikki moved down to the U.S. where she met & married her husband, Chris Mathis. Together, they lead and oversee The Summit network of churches & ministries internationally. They also have 3 children (Micaiah, Judah, & Eden). Through Summit Sounds, Nikki desires to continue raising & equipping worshippers around these Summit campuses to host God’s Presence and release sounds both written in authenticity and birthed from moments of worship.
chrismathis.ca

summitsounds.org

Associate Pastors / Family & Student Ministries
Pastors Jamie & Heather Paton serve on the teaching team of The Summit Church - Edmonton and have 5 children & 3 grandchildren. When Jamie was radically saved, his heart instantly desired to unite believers to see revival sweep the nation of Canada. Along with his wife Heather, they began partnering their gift of faith with their heart for the nations by traveling to nations such as the US, Arctic, Rwanda, Uganda, and ministering to youth, young adults, and pastoral leadership training.
Jamie’s heart beats for the lost and leaders in the marketplace. He desires to see men and women equipped and released to use their gifts and talents to bring hope, healing & a moral shift to their spheres of influence. Heather carries many creative strategies to connect with those outside the walls of the church; ministering to inner city kids, running missional soccer and basketball leagues locally & overseas, developing sewing schools in Rwanda to break the cycle of poverty by equipping women with a business trade, partnering the gospel with student coaching in the arctic region schools, are examples of how she desires to engage cultures.
Carrying over 22 years in ministry, in 2009 The Lord called them to plant an inner city church in London, Ontario called The Sanctuary London where they were lead pastors for 10 years. Jamie & Heather together are now the directors of Builders Collab (Formerly Hope Farms) and lead a ministry called "Urban Drop” through The Summit Church. Being bi-vocational for many years has given them much vision for those working in societal spheres to be awakened to their vital role in societal reformation, and culture. We are very grateful they are now an important piece of our leadership team here at The Summit Church - Edmonton!
builderscollab.ca

Pastoral Care / CFO
Pastors Des and Tracy Belford are happily married and have 3 adult children, Jacob, Glory, and Elijah. They were born and raised in Edmonton. Des and Tracy were ordained as pastors through The Summit in 2024, and have been serving here since before The Summit started.
Des's heart is to develop healthy, mature believers, and to help them walk in the fullness of their identity and the nature of God. Des co-leads Pastoral Care, which encompasses biblical counselling (pre-marital, marital, and personal) as well as community development such as Family Groups, Men's Ministry, and fostering deep connection in the church body. Des is passionate about teaching people how to love well, to restore sons & daughters, as well as restoring families though teaching biblical foundations. Des is well known for his legendary hugs, and you will usually find him in the foyer greeting everyone.
Tracy functions as the Summit's Chief Financial Officer, where she keeps the finances of the church running smoothly, and uses her administrative skills, Her heart is to love God and love others, and she is passionate about the mission field. Tracy loves taking people overseas, and leads our Brazil missions teams yearly, as well as teaches our Missions 101 class where she prepares people for the mission field, as well as life as a mature believer. She is a skilled prayer warrior, intercessor and deliverance minister. Her favorite moments are seeing someone encounter the Lord in ways that change their life. She loves to pray for physical and emotional healing, and to see people get breakthrough. Tracy also owns Summit Global Publishing, where she writes, edits, and publishes books in line with The Summit's values.

Pastoral Care / Administration
Pastor Chris Frost is married to Dominique and together they have 3 children: Daniella, Drew, and Kezia. Before becoming a Pastor, Chris spent close to 20 years in the business world. Eleven of those years were spent working alongside his dad as a Certified Financial Planner. During this time he experienced some wonderful business successes, followed by a spectacular business failure. Through this failure, the Lord lead Chris to three years of Ministry School at Bethel Church in Redding, California. It was there that Chris fell in love with Christian life coaching and in 2016 started his own business. In the fall of 2021, Chris joined The Summit staff and in the spring of 2023, he stepped away from his personal business to devote his time fully to pastoring.
Chris is currently ordained and pastoring with the Summit Church. He is passionate about "equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry", empowering people to hear the voice of God, and seeing Jesus transform people's hearts from the inside out. He brings a unique dynamic to our incredible team and along with his family is an integral part of The Summit family.