The Rev. Dr. Matthew Lawrence
The Rev. Dr. Matthew Lawrence has served as Rector of the Church of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa, California since November, 2003. He and his family moved here from Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Fr. Matt served for seven years as Senior Chaplain of Canterbury House at the University of Michigan.
Fr. Matt has also served as Interim Rector of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Milford, Michigan, Rector of Church of Our Saviour in Arlington, Massachusetts, Episcopal Chaplain at Tufts University, and Interim Director for Parish Mission at Episcopal City Mission in Boston. He also worked for seven years as a policy analyst and management consultant in the field of low-income housing in the Boston area.
As a freelance writer, Fr. Matt has written many articles and essays for journals and periodicals, including The Christian Century, The Living Church, Alban Institute’s Congregations, and The Episcopal Times. He has also been heard as a Commentator on KQED, Michigan Public Radio and the Great Lakes Radio Consortium. He is the founder of several nonprofit organizations, including the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Tufts University, the journal Urban Vision, and an interfaith organization in the Boston area that promoted respect for gays and lesbians.
Fr. Matt earned a B.A. in Religion from Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 1980, a M.Div. from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School in 1986, and a M.A. from the University of Chicago’s School of Public Policy Studies in 1987, where he won the Urban Scholars Fellowship. He was ordained an Episcopal priest in June, 1990 by the Rt. Rev. Barbara Harris. Fr. Matt received his Doctor of Ministry in Congregational Development in May, 2011 from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. His thesis is entitled "Writer-Priest: How Pastors Write Their Way Toward Vocational and Congregational Health". It examines writing as a spiritual discipline for pastors and as a method for preventing clergy burnout.
He has been married since 1982 to Rose Thomas Lawrence, Ph.D., a Clinical Psychologist. They have one child, Tom, who studies Political Communication at The George Washington University. Fr. Matt enjoys creative writing, movies, hiking, and the sermons of Stephen Colbert.
From the Rector
Worship Services
We offer 3 Sunday Services:
- 8 am - Traditional
- 9:15 am - More informal and family-oriented
- 11:15 am - More formal with classical chior