Welcome to St. Matthew's!
Join us in person on Saturday, October 28, 2023, from 10:00-12:00 PM at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, 1401 M. L. K. Jr., Blvd, Savannah, GA 31415. You can register to participate on Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jiSaCp3GSLulkWcd5o2Fhg.
Donations to St. Matthew's are encouraged in any of the following ways:
Make a secure online gift to St. Matthew’s and/or automate future gifts at: https://onrealm.org/StMattSav/-/give/now
Text “stmattsav” to 73256 to make a secure online donation through your phone
Mail us a check or money order at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 1401 Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd, Savannah, GA 31415
NOTE: Donations made online (#2 or #3) through Realm incur a processing fee of about 2.5%. Please consider adding an additional 2.5% to your online gift to cover these costs.
Panel Guests
The Rev. Guillermo Arboleda (he/him/his) is the Rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Savannah, GA, and the Missioner for Racial Justice in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. In addition to his pastoral duties, his work includes community organizing, political advocacy, training others in antiracist leadership, and theological research about criminal justice policy. He has degrees from Messiah University and Duke University Divinity School. A grandchild of Ecuadorian, Dominican, and Puerto Rican immigrjants, Guillermo is married to the Rev. Kelly Steele (Rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Savannah), and they have a dog named Reina. He enjoys watching sports, creating music, CrossFit, and yoga.
Bertice Berry, PhD (she/her/hers) is a world-renowned public sociologist and best-selling author of 14 books in both fiction and nonfiction. She is the adoptive mother of five and a grandmother. Berry has worked with thousands of corporations and organizations leading them through change and transformation around diversity and belonging, engagement, life work harmony, servant leadership and self-care. She is one of the founders of the Savannah Institute for Story and engages and inspires millions with a daily online ministry of storytelling. Berry is a candidate for ordination to the Diaconate in The Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Georgia.
Mrs. Beryl Dandy (she/her/hers) is a historian of African American music and the director of music at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Savannah, GA. A graduate of Savannah State University, Mrs. Dandy has been an educator and choir director at various churches including Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, First Congregational United Church of Christ, Tremont Temple Baptist Church, and many more. She believes that the root of American music comes from the fields and the souls of Black folks. Her work uplifts and informs us of where we are from and who we can be.
Hermina Glass-Hill (she/her/hers) is a noted historian, writer, artist, and environmental justice advocate. Her research intersects nineteenth century African American history and Black folk culture. Glass-Hill is director of the Susie King Taylor Institute in Midway, GA, and the nation’s preeminent Susie King Taylor scholar. She is a writer, historian, preservationist, and sustainability advocate for Oceana and has been a voice for environmental justice and human rights for more than twenty years. She has served as the director of the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era at Kennesaw State University. Glass-Hill served as an historian for the Department of Interior National Park Services and at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, where she spearheaded The Freedom Mosaic and collaborated with CNN to produce an oral history pilot project of living survivors and activists of the Civil Rights and Human Rights Movements. In 2019, she received the Georgia Governor’s Award for Arts and Humanities. She is Lay Eucharistic Minister and faithful member of Christ Church Episcopal in Savannah, GA. She and her husband Kelvin reside in Midway, GA, less than two miles from the Grest Island Plantation where Susie King Taylor was born. She loves nature, creating vegetarian meals, talking to people, and watching forensic crime shows.
The Rev. Ella Roundtree-Davis (she/her/hers) is the Deacon of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Savannah, GA. She was born in North Carolina and moved with her family to New York City as a teenager. She attended City College of New York and majored in Physical Education. Deacon Ella 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 New York City Board of Education. Deacon Ella 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. She started her journey to the Diaconate in 2006 and was ordained in 2013. Deacon Ella has found joy and deep soul satisfaction in being a Deacon and serving God's people. Deacon Ella is married to Dr. Enrique Davis and they have a blended family of four children.
“A Charge I Have to Keep”
by Charles Wesley
A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify, a never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky.
The Baptismal Covenant
All standing as they are able, the Celebrant and People pray:
Do you believe in God the Father?
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
I will, with God's help.
Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
I will, with God's help.
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
I will, with God's help.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
I will, with God's help.
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
I will, with God's help.
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