Life to the full!
Meet the Team!
Patrick
Dominguez
Senior Pastor
Patrick Dominguez
Senior Pastor
Matt Hillegass
Associate Pastor
Lauren Brereton
Students' Director
Sara Hillegass
Community Garden Director
Gabriel Angeles
Music & Media Director
Patrick Dominguez
Senior Pastor
Patrick serves as the Senior Pastor at Tree of Life, bringing over forty years of dedicated ministry experience to the congregation. He leads the church in pursuing its mission of "life to the full" through gospel-centered preaching, attentive pastoral care, and active community discipleship. A warmth for people drives his ministry, and he takes great joy in watching individuals connect deeply with God and one another.
With a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater from Carnegie Mellon University, Patrick incorporates dramatic narrative, artful storytelling, and imaginative expression into worship and preaching, actively encouraging creativity within the body of believers.
Beyond his pastoral role, Patrick is a fine artist specializing in watercolor and pencil compositions and is an active member of Clayton Visual Arts. He and his wife, Susan, treasure spending time with their adult children, their spouses, and their four beloved grandchildren.
Matt Hillegass
Associate Pastor
Matt serves as one of the pastors at Tree of Life and was recently ordained to the order of deacons in the Anglican Church. He brings over twenty years of experience as a teacher and school leader, including eight years at St. David’s School in Raleigh where he served as Head of School before transitioning to full-time parish ministry in 2025. Matt also teaches AP calculus and statistics to juniors and seniors at Southside Christian school.
He holds a B.S. in Physiology and Neurobiology from the University of Maryland and a Master’s in Biblical Studies and Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. Matt loves to study and behold both the beauty and logic of God’s creation. Deeply passionate about teaching, learning, and discipleship, Matt finds joy in awakening wonder in others and sharing the tools and habits for following Jesus with our whole being - heart, soul, mind and body.
Matt also enjoys baseball, fine woodworking, and adventuring with his wife, Sara, and their three children Sam, Mason, and Stella Jane.
Gabriel Angeles
Music & Media Director
Originally from Mexico, Gabriel moved to the States as a teenager. The son of pastor/missionary parents, he grew up in ministry his whole life.
Gabe went to a Bible school in North Carolina to pursue a Barchelor's Degree in Theology with an emphasis in Apologetics.
He then moved to Tennessee to be on staff at a great ministry, where he also met his wife, Laura. They have a son named Luis and he is awesome!
He moved back to NC and is currently the Music and Media Director at Tree of Life Anglican church.
His lifelong passion has been music and anything creative. In his free time you'll find him in his home studio tinkering with music, reading a book, and he also loves watching a great movie.