Episcopal priest, mountain innkeeper, and spiritual storyteller — Father Dan Matthews is still inspiring at 93 years of age.
Story by Gary Wade | Photography by Bruce McCamish
Appeared in Cityview Magazine, Vol. 42, Issue 4 (July/August 2026)
In his storied career as an Episcopal priest beginning in Monteagle in the Tennessee diocese, Daniel Paul Matthews has served at churches in Memphis (1961), Nashville (1965), St. John’s in Knoxville (1972), and Atlanta (1980). In 1987, the church wardens and vestry of the prestigious Trinity Church on Wall Street, New York, called on “Father Dan” to become their 16th rector. Chartered by King William III of England in 1697, Trinity is among the oldest and best endowed churches in the United States. Alexander Hamilton is among the many notables laid to rest in their churchyard. After 17 years of exemplary leadership, Dan retired in 2004.
Father Dan, now a youthful 93 years of age, perhaps the premier spiritual storytellers of our time.
Turning back the clock, in 1943, Dan’s father, Robert, moved the family to Canton, North Carolina, a small town in the shadow of the Great Smoky Mountains, to become the high school band director there. Cataloochee Valley and other trails and sites within our national park became the family’s playground. Years later, with funds from the estate of their parents, Dan and his older brother, Bob, also an Episcopal priest, acquired 250 remote, mountainous acres on Hemphill Knob to build a nine-bedroom religious retreat. Separated from the park’s Cataloochee Divide Trail only by a fence, the property became a popular spiritual haven for their many visitors.
In preparation for the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, a representative, concerned about the lack of rooms for their visitors, telephoned to ask if Dan and his wife Deener if they might accept reservations. They agreed, of course, and their overnight guests, impressed by the hospitality, chose to hike the trails rather than attend the Fair! By the end of the year, the Swag Country Inn was opened to the public with Deener serving as the Innkeeper. For their love of the mountains, the Matthews offered to host a fledgling Friends of the Smokies gathering in hopes of generating much-needed funds for the park. April 24th of this year marked the beginning of the 30th consecutive weekend of the event.
“The mountains have always been my cathedral.”
The highlight this year was a wish list item of the Friends organization. An excursion from the Swag to Cataloochee included a history lesson of the community — until its evacuation in the 1930s — by founding board member Steve Woody. What followed at Palmer Chapel featured the corresponding and remarkably inspirational homily by Father Dan, now a youthful 93 years of age, perhaps the premier spiritual storytellers of our time. ◆
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