Mr. Rogers, God, and You

Join us for a online workshop hosted by author Westina Matthews and inspired by the work of the beloved children's television host, Fred Rogers. Dr. Matthews will be visiting Saint Stephen’s in September and this is a great chance to get to know her.

Registration is limited to 25 participants. Please register HERE.

Dr. Westina Matthews is an adjunct professor for the Center for Christian Spirituality at The General Theological Seminary, where she teaches contemplative spiritual direction. A graduate of the spiritual guidance program at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, she is an author, public speaker, spiritual director and retreat leader whose practice reflects contemplative living through “holy listening.”  

Westina was a successful corporate executive, living the prototypical American dream, but at a pivotal moment in her life, she decided to make a change that drew her into deeper relationship with God. In her new book, Dancing from the Inside Out: Grace-Filled Reflections on Growing Older, she explores the nuances and everyday marvels of maturing. Through thoughtful, poignant, humorous, and authentic reflections shared from her journal and blog, readers are invited to redefine themselves throughout the aging process.

Westina has contributed to several Forward Movement anthologies, including A Year of Daily Meditations (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016) and Wisdom Found: Stories of Women Transfigured by Faith (2011), and was a frequent contributor to Sacred Journey: The Journal of Fellowship in Faith. For many years, she was a lay leader at Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City, serving on the vestry and co-leading the parish’s annual offering of Commitment to Discipleship. She is now a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Skidaway Island, Georgia, and is a facilitator for the Gathering of Leaders, a program for ministry and mission enhancement for selected Episcopal clergy with proven leadership skills.

Westina earned her doctorate in education from the University of Chicago, completed postdoctoral research fellowships at both Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and was a Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University where she studied women and girls of faith in Burundi in central Africa.