2010 Program Theme

"You will know them by their fruits"

Come and bring a son, a friend, a new communicant in your church!!

The Rev. Dr. Daniel Paul Matthews, rector emeritus of historic Trinity Church, Wall Street, was born in Chicago. In his early childhood, he moved to Western North Carolina.  He spent the first 20 years of his ministry as a priest in parishes in Tennessee serving as a Deacon at St. James Mission, Midway and later a Priest at Holy Comforter, Monteagle. In 1961, he served as an Assistant at Church of the Holy Communion, Memphis and as Rector of St. David’s, Nashville from 1965 – 1972.
Since 1972, the hallmark of Dr. Matthews' work has been concentrated in larger, inner city parishes.  This phase of his service began when he moved to St. John's in Knoxville, TN.  The work of the parish there 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.
Dr. Matthews was honored in 2001 with the Bishop’s Cross of the Diocese of New York. His leadership has been recognized by four honorary doctorates; his preaching has been heard throughout the nation as well as in Canterbury Cathedral in England and Nanjing Seminary in China.
On September 11, 2001, Dr. 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. Trinity’s chapel, St. Paul’s – across the street from the World Trade Center – served as a 24-hour center of refuge and relief for eight months after the attack.
An apostle of hope and healing for lower Manhattan as the district sought to rebuild itself, Dr. Matthews has made appearances on all three major network television evening news shows, and many others both overseas and locally, 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 he and his wife Deener live in Manhattan.  Dr. Matthews presently serves as co-chair of the development committee at The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine where he maintains an office.

Father Charles Strobel—Founding Director of Room In The Inn and its Campus for Human Development  
Charles is a native Nashvillian.  He graduated from St. Mary’s College in Kentucky with a BA in Philosophy, Xavier University in Cincinnati with a Masters in Education, and Catholic University in Washington, D.C. with a Masters in Theology.  He received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois.
After his ordination to the Catholic priesthood in 1970, he served five years in Knoxville as a parish priest. In 1975, he returned to Nashville and began to work with the homeless.  He organized Loaves and Fishes Community Meal in 1983 and helped to organize St. Patrick’s Family Shelter that has now become Safe Havens Family Shelter.  In 1986, he founded Room In The Inn, a congregational based shelter program now involving 150+ congregations.  He helped spin off from Room In The Inn a homeless shelter for working men, Matthew 25, in 1987.
Presently, he is the Founding Director of Room In The Inn and its Campus for Human Development (1995), a comprehensive single site of services for the homeless.  In addition, he founded The Guest House (1991), as an alternative to jail for the publicly intoxicated that is now part of the Campus. The Campus serves more than 300 persons daily in Nashville.
He serves on the Board of Magdalene, Backfield in Motion and the Mayor’s Homelessness Commission.

Mr. Gates is performing the portrayal, titled “General Patton’s Christmas Prayer Miracle”; it’s a historically accurate theatrical performance of General George Patton.
The story is about how the Germans were defeating the allied armies and specifically the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Bastogne in late December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge. According to Gates’ story, the weather was terrible and declining. Patton, a devout Christian, was praying about the situation on Dec. 23, 1944. Patton was very angry with God. A chaplain, sat down with Patton to discuss the situation. During the conversation Patton asked the chaplain to write a prayer to be printed on the back of Patton’s Christmas message to the troops the next day.  Miracles began to happen.
Gates has written and choreographed more than 20 Biblical monologues. Gates was performing a similar act called “Old Glory” when a spectator realized Gates might be interested in a story about Patton. While researching the play, Gates found and interviewed people who had actually worked with Patton during the war.
In 1985, Mr. Gates retired from DuPont. One of his proudest achievements was being one of the developers of bullet resistant vests of Kevlar for police officers. In February of 2010, he retired again as a V.P. for Wunderlich Securities. Larry is a 1952 graduate of Austin Peay receiving his B.S. in Chemistry.  He continues to be active with his school. Larry is an Elder at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville.