ST. MATTHEW'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH (MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.):

St. Matthew's Episcopal Church was consecrated on October 27, 1889 and served the community of northeast Minneapolis for 110 years. Prior to having their own building in 1889, Episcopal congregations in northeast Minneapolis held services at Rushford's Hall on the 2300 block of Harrison Street Northeast (now Central Avenue), the Odd Fellows Hall at Harrison and 5th Street Northeast, and rented space from the Shiloh Bethany Church. For a time a tent, erected on a vacant lot on Central Avenue, was used for services. This home was short-lived as the tent and its contents were stolen.

They subsequently acquired a small building on the corner of Lowry Avenue and Fillmore Street Northeast (1121 Lowry Avenue Northeast), which was the only Episcopal church in northeast Minneapolis throughout its history. Several additions were made to the church through the years with electricity and indoor plumbing being the first major renovations in 1904. St. Matthew's was incorporated as a parish in April of 1892 and allowed women to vote at parish meetings for the first time in 1893. During the 1930s, the parish struggled to survive as only a few families could meet their pledges and the rector's salary was in arrears for several years. Despite the financial troubles, services were held every Sunday. In 1961 property was bought in New Brighton with the idea of merging with another parish and erecting a new church in the suburbs. But enough parishioners wanted to stay in northeast Minneapolis and eventually the New Brighton property was sold.

By 1981, when the mortgage on the church was finally retired, St. Matthew's was probably the smallest urban church in the state of Minnesota. The neighborhood had changed, most of the congregation had been members for decades and had become elderly, and the congregation didn't have the financial resources to hire its own pastor. In the 1990s, St. Matthew's lost its parish status and became a mission church. The last service at St. Matthew's was held on September 26, 1999, with father Donald Nesheim presiding. He was also the pastor at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church at 1832 James Avenue North and some of the St. Matthew's congregation followed him there, where many of the newest members were recent immigrants from Liberia.

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The records of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church include a photocopy of the certificate of incorporation (April 1892), undated bylaws, annual meeting minutes (1970-1997), and vestry minutes (scattered between 1891 and 1997). While minutes prior to 1967 are widely scattered, documentation of church activities and administration for its last thirty years is fairly complete. Vestry minutes contain committee and guild reports, pastor reports, and treasurer reports. There is some overlap between the two sets of minutes. There is some information on the annual meetings in the vestry minutes as well.

The collection also contains minute books from the Woman's Auxiliary, 1919-1960; St. Hilda's Guild, 1943-1995; the Parish Guild, 1936-1939; and St. Anne's Nursery Guild, 1958-1963. The second box contains alphabetically arranged subject files that contain information on the church's centennial (including an audio cassette of the centennial service); policies and procedures of the church; record of services, attendance, and income (1948-1963); a scattered run of the parish newsletter; some membership lists; various reports; and instructions and information for the vestry. A booklet on the history of St. Helen's Episcopal Church in Wadena, Minnesota; notes from a meeting of St. Aidan's Episcopal Church of New Brighton; and information for the vestry of St. John's in the Wilderness Episcopal Church of White Bear Lake are also found in this collection.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Minneapolis, Minn.) Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,954

Processing Information:

Processed by: Richard W. Arpi, June 2006

Catalog ID number: 6162308

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Episcopal Church -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Northeast Community (Minneapolis, Minn.) -- History.

Minneapolis (Minn.) -- Church history.

Organizations:

St. Aidan's Episcopal Church (New Brighton, Minn.).

St. Helen's Episcopal Church (Wadena, Minn.).

St. John's in the Wilderness Episcopal Church (White Bear Lake, Minn.).

Types of Documents:

Audiocassettes.

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