As the Bishop cannot be present at each of his parishes every Sunday, he appoints priests to serve in his absence. The title of Rector (one who rules) is granted to priests installed with tenure in leadership of a parish.

The Very Rev. Matthew Perreault was born in Calgary, Canada and the son of a Roman Catholic father and Anglican mother, he was raised in the Pentecostal tradition. He first attended St. James Anglican Church in Calgary at the behest of his grandmother, and even at a young age was profoundly moved by the liturgy.

The son of a construction worker, Matthew lost his father at the age of ten, an experience that would shape his younger years. After a period of anger, he would find God and solace in the Anglican liturgical tradition and began attending St. James as an adult while studying for his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Public Policy at the University of Calgary in 2003.

He discerned a call to ordination and began graduate studies at Ambrose Seminary in Calgary where he served as the Spiritual Director of the Seminary for a year. He took additional credits from Regent College, and eventually concluded his studies and received his Master of Divinity from Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Nashotah, WI. He was ordained to the Diaconate August 3, 2018, the Feast of St. Stephen the Deacon and Martyr, at Holy Cross Anglican Church in Calgary where he briefly served as Deacon. After receiving his M.Div from Nashotah House in 2019, Matthew was ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests on June 22, 2019, the Feast of St. Alban the first Martyr of Britain, at the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in Calgary by Archbishop Gregory Kerr-Wilson. He was assigned to serve as curate at All Saints Anglican Church in Cochrane where he served from 2019 to 2021 before accepting the call to become the XIII Rector of St. Thomas in September of 2021.

Matthew is married to Lindsay “Linzie” Perreault and has family in Canada and in-laws in Ohio. He enjoys tea, marmalade, hiking, camping, cooking, baking, board and card games, and reading. He is currently studying Canon Law through Durham University at the St. Padarn’s Institute (St. Michael’s College) in Cardiff, Wales.

Since moving to Central Florida, Matthew has rediscovered the joy of God’s gift of air conditioning.