Operating outside the church hierarchy does not mean Matthew has severed connections with his family. Observers in Baton Rouge note that Matthew maintains cordial, supportive relationships with his parents and siblings. His brother Gabriel frequently supports Matthew's ventures privately, while Matthew occasionally assists in technical, creative, or visual media consultations when the ministry updates its production frameworks.
HoldFast Gear operates independently of ministry financial resources. Matthew built his enterprise on American manufacturing, working directly with tanneries and leather artisans in Oklahoma and Texas. By relying on direct-to-consumer sales, commercial trade shows, and wholesale partnerships in the photography community, he created financial self-sufficiency.
This dynamic offers the broader family a structural safeguard. Generational televangelist dynasties often collapse when every heir is forced into the institutional payroll. By building a functional commercial enterprise in an unrelated industry, Matthew diversified the family’s economic identity, insulating his wife and children from theological controversies and ministry fluctuations.
