

Rev. Shawn Garvey
Shawn holds a Master of Divinity Degree from Andover Newton Theological School, has served as Senior Minister to First Congregational Church of Winter Park since 2013, and in 2023 celebrates 25 years of serving churches in pulpit ministry.
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Selected as one of Winter Park Magazine’s “Most Influential People," Shawn currently serves the Florida Conference, UCC on the Committee on Ministry, Chair of the Personnel Committee, and sitting on the Board of Directors. In 2023 he will serve for the second time as Interim Dean of Religious Life at Rollins College, as he did previously from 2014 - 2016. He sits on the Board of Directors, the Governance Committee and the Nominating Committee of The Mayflower Retirement Community, as well as the Professional Advisory Group and Curriculum Sub-Committee for CPE at AdventHealth Orlando. He has served on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors for the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, as Faith Representative of the Winter Park Visioning Steering Committee, helped create and facilitate "Side-By-Side," an annual celebration of the people of Winter Park, and is an original member of the "No-Name Civility Posse;" a collective of Winter Park leaders from across a wide spectrum of vocations and experience seeking more civil and compassionate dialogue in civic matters.
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An accomplished singer and guitar player, Shawn is known around Winter Park for his John Denver concerts, as well as singing at city and civic events, local fundraisers, the "Music at The Casa" music series at Casa Felix Historic House Museum, and Orlando Science Museum's "Festival Of The Trees." He has opened and performed with the likes of Livingston Taylor, Marshall Crenshaw, and performed annual John Denver tribute shows with his dear friend the late Steve Weisberg, Denver's former lead guitar player, who appeared on 7 of Denver's 9 platinum albums.
He's even sung at weddings at Disney, where he is a “Preferred Officiant” for Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings at Walt Disney World and appeared on "Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings: Holiday Magic 2" as the officiant for the Mary Poppins-themed wedding. (No, he did not meet Lin-Manuel Miranda....)
Shawn enjoys woodworking, cooking, being at the ocean, travel, all things “tech” and is completely addicted to the “Lord of The Rings” trilogy, which he watches every year for his birthday (Extended Edition, of course!)
Above all, he adores all the time he can spend with his wife and two boys all of whom he loves "to the moon and back."