The Rev. Matt Rhodes, Rector
Contact
ststephenspriest@gmail.com
Office: (434) 525-5511
The Rev. Matt Rhodes has a long and cherished association with St. Stephen’s dating back to New Year’s Day 1984, when he and his family walked through the front doors of our sanctuary for the first time to attend a Sunday morning service. Because of the formation, growth and relationships he experienced during the subsequent eight years it is with great joy that he credits this parish as being at the very foundation of who he is as a Christian and Episcopalian. Nearly 40 years later, he accepted our call to return and now serves as our 28th Rector.
A 2017 graduate (M.Div.) of the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, he spent nearly two decades working in political, corporate and trade association communications in Washington, D.C. before answering God’s call to ordained ministry. He and his wife Amy are the proud parents of two teenagers and reside in Lynchburg. As a native of Lynchburg, Matt+ believes in giving back to his hometown whenever possible. To that end he is quite active in several local organizations, serving on: the board of directors and as chair of the Members and Friends Committee of Interfaith Outreach Association; the Parent and Family Advisory Committee, the President’s Advisory Council, and the curriculum committee for the LIFE@Lynchburg program, all at the University of Lynchburg; and the 40 Ways Coalition.
The ordination vows for an Episcopal priest include the charge to take their share in the councils of the Church. To that end Matt+ is a member of the boards for Grace House on the Mountain and the Trustees of the Funds and serves on the diocese’s Disciplinary Board.
Matt+ holds as the center of his approach to ministry the admonitions of Jesus in Matthew 25 to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, and care for the sick. He believes we can accomplish this joint ministry of laity and clergy by taking the love and redeeming grace of Christ beyond the four walls of the sanctuary and into the wider world. This “ministry without boundaries” approach is at its root based first and foremost in the Word, sacraments, and our life as a community. He feels deeply that this approach will lead to a more expansive form of ministry in which our parish family serves as modern-day apostles of Jesus in the world while simultaneously welcoming all who come to this place for comfort, refreshment, community, and a sense of God’s presence and love.
Matt+ invites you to email him at ststephenspriest@gmail.com with questions, pastoral concerns, or to learn more about life here at St. Stephen’s and how you can be a part of it.
Staff
Organist
Dana Ballard
Part-Time Parish Administrator
Wes Smallshaw
ststephensforest@mail.com
(434) 525-5511
Vestry
Justin McCarthy, Senior Warden
Bill Wright, Junior Warden
Jennifer Moore, Treasurer
Greg Branan
Hal Clark
Jim LeBlanc
Bea Mohr