Making a Difference: Matt Pitt of The Basement

Every month, NBC13HD recognizes people in the community making a difference. 

This month, we introduce you to a young man who has captured the attention of thousands in the Birmingham metro area with his energy and faith.

Matt Pitt draws some 6,000 people to a unique worship experience every Tuesday night. 

Ironically, it was a drug overdose in front a huge crowd that lead him down this path.

Matt Pitt hits the stage every Tuesday night with an outrageous amount of energy.  He says he’s competing with bars and clubs to pull in young people to learn more about God.

He grabs their attention with lasers, Christian rap, whatever it takes to make them realize there is a better path. Some 6,000 people show up every time Pitt opens what he calls The Basement.

“I feel like this generation hope has been pulled out, so we put on a service to pump them up and say you can do all things through Christ. That’s our message,” Pitt said.

Rewind almost six years ago, Matt was in trouble. He was hooked on drugs and selling them. His problems carried over from high school in Birmingham to college at the University of Alabama, where he hit rock bottom in front of a different audience. At a Bama football game in front of his parents, he collapsed from an overdose.

“He was screaming, ‘I need help for my son!‘ and I remember seeing my mom in the distance crying, and I remember thinking, ‘Where is my life going? What just happened?’ I knew all the drugs and all the mess had caught up with me in my life,” Pitt said.

His parents brought him home and randomly drug-tested him. When he failed one of the tests, his dad gave him an ultimatum in the basement of their home.

Matt’s mother, Missy Pitt, said, “Neither Larry or I was expecting what came out of his mouth that day when Larry told him to pack his bags. We were putting him under a bridge. I was just as shocked as Matt. We were pushover parents. We never in a million years would have done that.”

“Here I am, one step away from being homeless,” Matt said. “I have nowhere to go, nothing to offer, but I do remember my mom saying, one day God will use you. One day, you will be a voice to help others.”

He immediately dropped to his knees and asked for forgiveness. Then he started bringing friends to his basement to get to know God.

The basement group grew quickly. It’s outgrown several churches and captured attention nationwide. We told him we wanted an interview, but really, we, too, wanted to recognize him with a Making a Difference award.

“This makes me feel people are excited about what we are doing and pats me on the back from the city,” Matt said. “Feeling like I’m gonna rock it tomorrow night!”

Justin Standridge grew up with Matt.

“When he gets up there, I’ve heard him a million times, but I’m just glued to him like, man, this guy, he is really making a difference … his whole life revolves around these kids, that’s it,” Standridge said.

Matt Pitt, thank you for making a difference for so many.

The Basement just moved from Cathedral of the Cross in Roebuck to Church of the Highlands.  Matt says there’s even a Christian reality show is in the works.

Click here for more information on The Basement.