Matthew was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Frederick Maryland by his father Richard (a theology professor and senior pastor) and his mother Sallie (a hospital manager turned homemaker). Eager to learn and experience the world at large, he has studied in London, Rome, and Calcutta. After graduating from Wake Forest University, he taught history, geography, and mathematics to high school students in Brooklyn, NYC through a program called Teach for America. During his years teaching, he completed a Master of Education at Lehman College, C.U.N.Y. in the Bronx. Before joining the amazing team at Union Church, he completed a Master of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary. In 2015, Matthew earned a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Hong Kong. Also in 2015 Matthew met his wife, Jolene Fredericks (née Wee), in Union's courtyard, and they were married in May 2016. They celebrated their wedding at Union's Sanctuary, 15 metres from where they first met. Matthew loves Chinese vegetables, running, translating the Greek Bible, swimming in Repulse Bay, Sunday dinners at St. Barnabas' Shelter, Shakespeare at the HK Academy for Performing Arts, and especially Jolene, as well as his large, adopted family in Hong Kong.
