Matt was appointed to St. Andrew's in his early days of ordained ministry, in Advent of 2016, for a two-year period. After finding that it was, in fact, a great fit, and that an exciting future for the congregation was being revealed, Matt was then appointed Rector, and has been enjoying serving St. Andrew's for over seven years (with hopefully several more years to come).
With a BA (Hons.) in Religious Studies from the University of Waterloo, Matt spent some years fostering his love of music and pop culture by managing the Kitchener Beat Goes On location, selling music, movies, and games. After marrying Leslie, Matt pursued full-time theological studies at Trinity College in Toronto, graduating with an M. Div. (Hons.) in 2016, and winning an award for his thesis on Episcopalian lay theologian William Stringfellow.
In addition to parish life Matt finds learning, challenge, and fulfilment in various other ministries, such as in leading the Post-Ordination Training program for the Diocese of Huron, serving on its Doctrine & Worship and Stewardship Committees, and working as a Congregational Coach, assisting lay and ordained church leaders in strengthening their parish life together. Matt is also president of the Trinity College Divinity Associates Executive, which is the alumni association of Trinity's Faculty of Divinity. He has been a frequent workshop facilitator for Renison University College's Institute of Ministry. A devotee of the 20th century monk and activist Thomas Merton, Matt has been an associate of The Order of the Holy Cross for more than half his life.
You will find that Matt's approach to liturgy is solemn and reverent, but not stodgy or smug. His approach to preaching leads to sermons that are engaging and accessible (and not too long), enlivened by good stories and (sometimes surprising) pop culture references, but always rooted in the Bible and theology.
Matt and Leslie love spending time with their cat, Alice (who is a frequent participant in our Zoom-based liturgies and events). In his off-time Matt recharges by tapping into his collection of books (horror, sci-fi, 'weird (Lovecraftian) fiction'), music (punk, post-punk, metal, jazz, soul), and movies (more horror and sci-fi, sad Swedish movies, and the incredible body of work of Werner Herzog). He is an occasional guest on the Canadian movie podcast North of Normal, and boasts one of the world's most extensive collections of David Cronenberg-related media and memorabilia.
