Written in 2010
St. Matthew’s Parish began in 1895, worshipping in the Grand Army of the Republic Hall in the city of Auburn (which until 1893 was known as Slaughter.) At the 1896 diocesan convention, St. Matthew’s became a mission of the Episcopal Church. Eighty-nine years later, at the 1985 convention, St. Matthew’s was accepted into the diocese as a parish.
The congregation grew from 1896 until 1918 under visiting clergy before hitting a slump and falling into debt. After many ups and downs, the next growth period came in 1939. The people of St. Matthew’s had shared the services of priests with other churches around the area for many years. Finally, in 1949, the first resident priest arrived. The church took on a new life, with attendance and Sunday school enrollment increasing rapidly.
During the early years, St. Matthew’s was located by the railroad tracks in downtown Auburn. The present land was purchased and a building fund was started. In 1958, the parish hall was completed and in 1959 the old church building was moved from downtown to make the new location complete. Irreparable damage sustained during the 1965 earthquake made it necessary to demolish the original church building. The congregation worshipped in the parish hall until 1998 when a new sanctuary building was completed. The new building has a worship capacity of 220 people and boasts a fully restored and functional antique pipe organ.
The parish hall has been rededicated for multi-purpose use, both for parish and community activities. As part of the rededication, the hall was renamed Evelyn Bowen Hall, in memory of Deacon Evelyn Bowen and her selfless service to St. Matthew’s Parish and the greater Auburn community. The hall is now home to a full time preschool, a Christian counseling service and various other regular activities.
In August 2000, St. Matthew’s began a focus on Jubilee and established a Spanish language ministry and in 2005 the congregation dedicated and blessed a window in honor of Japanese Americans in the White River Valley.
St. Matthew’s Parish continues to grow and reach out into the community. From its beginning in the rail town and agricultural center of Auburn, St. Matthew has been blessed with members who were immigrants from different cultural backgrounds. By the last decades of the 20th Century, those immigrants included people from Russia, Korea, the Pacific Islands and Mexico. Many families in the Mexican communities have found St. Matthew to be a place where they can worship in their own language, celebrate important family and community events and participate in the life of the church.
The decision was made to celebrate the differences we all bring, along with our desire to worship and serve Christ. The result is an intentional multi-cultural community that includes Japanese American, Native (First Nation) American, African American, European American and Pacific Island American, now joined by the most recent immigrant families from Mexico. Our worship expresses this as we celebrate in both English and Spanish.
We also operate a very busy Jubilee Ministry which provides much needed outreach and human services to people who otherwise fall through the gaps in the secular social services network.
We call ourselves St. Matthew/San Mateo to acknowledge this new part of our journey in Auburn, and we are growing in active children, youth and young adults as well as Spirit.
We are a community of Christ where all are welcome to worship and serve God.
Clergy
1895 Harry Buzzelle
1896 L.A. Wye
1898 Gilbert Hannah
1901 Harry Goodman
1906-1910 Rodney J. Arney
1911-1915 Harry Hudson
1917 Wood Stewart
1919 Henry Burton
1930 T.E. Crumb
1931 Earl Schmeiser
1943-1944 B. Stanley Moore
1938-1947 Chester Taylor
1948-1949 Henry A. Post
1949-1954 George H. Ziegler
1954-1956 Willis G. Lonergan
1957-1961 Jack Yaryan
1962-1964 Richard A. Wakefield
1964-1965 Alfred Cramer
1965-1966 Richard A. Wakefield
1967-1968 Frederick A. Schilling
1968-1971 Douglas R. Wanamaker
1972-1982 Oliver B. Skanse
1983-1987 J. Reginald Butt
1987-1988 Paul Reitman
1988-1992 interims
1992-1999 Timothy Vance
1999-2001 Richard Younge
2001- Susan Armer