Dr. Daniel Matthews, rector emeritus of historic Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street, will address the FSC campus during the College’s convocation on
October 15. More about Convo

Rector Emeritus of Wall Street’s Trinity Episcopal Church will address students and the Lakeland community on October 15

LAKELAND, Fla. (Oct. 2, 2008) — Dr. Daniel Matthews, rector emeritus of historic Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street, will address the FSC campus during the College’s convocation on Oct. 15. The event will take place at 10:10 a.m. in Branscomb Auditorium and is free and open to the public.

On September 11, 2001, Matthews saw the second plane fly into the south tower of the World Trade Center from the parish’s offices, and he was forced to evacuate lower Manhattan with his staff and the children of the parish pre-school. The church's chapel across the street from Ground Zero was miraculously spared in the destruction and became the spiritual center for many thousands of rescue workers, mourners, and people from around the world.

Matthews was born in Chicago and moved to western North Carolina during his grammar school years. After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1955 from Rollins College, Winter Park, Fla., and his divinity degree in 1959 from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley, Calif., he spent the first 20 years of his ministry as a priest in parishes in Tennessee. Since 1972, the hallmark of his work has been concentrated in larger, inner city parishes where the work focused on the broad needs of people both within and without the church. In 1980 he was called to St. Luke’s in downtown Atlanta and in 1987 to 300-year-old Trinity Church, Wall Street, where he served for 17 years.

Honoring Matthews in 2001 with the Bishop’s Cross of the Diocese of New York, the diocese described him as “a gift to our city and diocese . . . His gifts of creativity and imagination have been expressed in many forms: from the establishment of what is now called Hallmark Television Channel -- in which he brought together over 50 faith groups in joint ownership of this cable channel -- to the Clergy Leadership Project, an intense renewal program open to clergy throughout the nation, to the publication of a national magazine, Spirituality and Health, and the creation of the award-winning drop-in shelter, John Heuss House, near the New York Stock Exchange.”

Matthews has been recognized with four honorary doctorates, has preached around the world, made appearances on all three major network television evening news shows, and has served as an advocate for and commentator on the church’s post-September 11 mission. On March 3, 2006, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his leadership at this time.

In retirement Matthews and his wife Diane live in Manhattan. He serves on the board of National Interfaith Cable Coalition, Inc., New York City; the advisory board of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific; and as co-chair of the development committee on the board of trustees at The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, New York City, where he maintains an office.