Our Leaders
The Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda
Rector
Photo Gallery
On June 1, 2016, St. Matthew’s welcomed its new Priest-in-Charge: The Reverend Guillermo Alejandro Arboleda (pronouns: he/him; pronounced: Ghee-yair-mo Al-eh-han-drow Ar-bo-leh-duh). On January 1, 2019, he was called as the sixth Rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church.
Father Arboleda was born and raised in Long Island, NY to a family of Ecuadorian, Dominican, and Puerto Rican heritage. While growing up, he learned the Christian faith in Methodist and Baptist churches. Fr. Arboleda left home to attend Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA (B.A. 2012), and then moved to Durham, NC, to attend Duke University Divinity School (M.Div. 2015). In Durham, he first encountered The Episcopal Church and fell in love with the Anglican way of being Christian. In 2014, he and Kelly Steele, then newlyweds, did summer internships with St. Paul’s and St. George’s, Savannah, respectively. Soon thereafter they began to discern their calls to the priesthood in this Diocese. Fr. Arboleda was ordained to the priesthood on May 21, 2016, and St. Matthew’s is his first call as a priest. He previously served for one year as a lay pastor and deacon at St. George’s Church in Windsor Forest, Savannah.
He led St. Matthew's to become a founding member of JUST (Justice Unites Savannah Together), a non-partisan, interfaith community organizing coalition; he is an at-large member of JUST's Executive Committee. He is a member of the board of directors for Emmaus House (United Ministries), which serves Savannah residents experiencing homelessness. Fr. Arboleda serves the Diocese as a trainer for its Leading With Grace (LWG) program, which empowers and trains church leaders to plan for change and build systems of shared leadership.
In addition to his duties at St. Matthew's, Fr. Arboleda works for the Diocese of Georgia with a quarter of his time as Missioner for Racial Justice. This role involves speaking publicly about moral and political issues, researching problems in the criminal-legal system, and providing educational resources to the Church at large to tackle systematic racism and injustice.
He is married to the Rev. Kelly Steele, who serves as the Rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Skidaway Island) in Savannah, GA. Rev. Steele and Fr. Arboleda regularly collaborate on other ministries in the Diocese. In his spare time, Fr. Arboleda enjoys watching sports, listening to podcasts, working out, reading, watching nerdy movies and TV shows, and walking his dog, Reina.
Email Fr. Arboleda at FrGAA@StMattSav.org. In a pastoral emergency, contact him directly on his mobile phone.
The Rev. Ella Roundtree-Davis
Deacon
The Diocese of Georgia’s newest deacon is the Rev. Ella Roundtree-Davis, who Bishop Logue has assigned to St. Matthew’s in Savannah. She and her husband, Enrique Davis, recently moved to the area from the Diocese of New York, where she was ordained as a deacon in 2013.
Deacon Davis was born in North Carolina. She moved, with her family, to New York City as a teenager. She attended City College of New York and majored in Physical Education. Dcn. Davis also received a Master of Science Degree in Health Education from City College of New York, and a Master of Science in Administration and Supervision from the College of New Rochelle. She taught and coached sports in high schools for many years in Dutchess County and for the New York City Board of Education. She was the first college cheerleaders' coach to make Sports Illustrated Magazine with her team, and she won a national high school championship with her four-person shell in crew. Dcn. Davis has also worked as a School Administrator, and a Director of a Substance Abuse Prevention Intervention Program in New York City School Districts. She retired after working thirty-two years in education.
Since her 2013 ordination in the Diocese of New York, Dcn. Davis previously served Trinity St. Paul's Church in New Rochelle, Christ Church in Bronxville, and Christ Church, Riverdale from 2015-2022.
Dcn. Davis is married to Dr. Enrique Davis, and they have a blended family of four children: two boys and two girls, all adults. Dcn. Davis has found joy and deep soul satisfaction in being a Deacon and serving God's people. She is looking forward to getting to know and work with the people of the Diocese of Georgia.
Dcn. Davis will officially join St. Matthew's staff beginning Sunday, July 10, 2022. Members of St. Matthew's can contact Dcn. Davis by email at Deacon@StMattSav.org. In a pastoral emergency, contact her directly on her mobile phone.
The 2022 Vestry
The Vestry of an Episcopal parish is its "board" of elected lay leaders. The Vestry works to offer leadership and oversight to the congregation in all sorts of financial and "temporal affairs." The Rector is the ex officio chair of the Vestry, but does not vote. Vestry elections are held each year at the annual parish meeting.
The Members of the 2022 Vestry of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church:
-
Mr. Paul Berksteiner (Class of 2025)
-
Mrs. Rachael Blue Jones (Class of 2025), Junior Warden
-
Mrs. Juray Brown (Class of 2023)
-
Mrs. Joenelle Gordon (Class of 2024), Senior Warden
-
Ms. Sheila Jones (Class of 2024)
-
Mr. Charles McMillan (Class of 2023)
Photo coming soon!
Ms. Harris
Parish Administrator
Ms. Harris joined the staff of St. Matthew's Church as a long-term volunteer in June 2019. She brings a wealth of professional experience and knowledge to the role of parish administrator, having previously served as an Administrator for the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia among many other roles.
Email Ms. Harris at Office@StMattSav.org
Call Ms. Harris at our Office (912) 234-4440 on Tuesdays or Wednesdays between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
A photo and more information are coming soon.
Beryl C. Dandy
Musician & Choirmaster
Ms. Dandy joined the staff of St. Matthew's Church in December 2017. She brings many years of experience and skill as a church organist, pianist, and choirmaster.
A photo and more information are coming soon.
Pat Lanchester
Bookkeeper
Ms. Lanchester joined the staff of St. Matthew's Church in March 2021. She is charged with helping the Vestry to maintain accurate and timely parish financial records using our online accounting system.
Email Pat at Bookkeeper@StMattSav.org
A photo and more information are coming soon.
The Rt. Rev. Frank S. Logue
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia
The Right Reverend Frank Sullivan Logue is the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Georiga. He is the chief pastor of about 70 congregations in South Georgia. He and his staff offer year-round administrative support to the clergy and vestry of St. Matthew's. He presides at our annual Diocesan Conventions and visits each congregation to perform baptisms and confirmations about once every 15 months. We are enormously grateful to him and the Diocesan staff for all the work they do to hold all of our congregations together as one Body.