St. Matthew Church (San Francisco)
The St. Matthew's Church (St. Matthew's Lutheran Church) is an Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Francisco . It is the last Lutheran church in Northern California to hold services in German on Sundays.
The parish was founded in 1895 by Pastor Hermann Gehrke from Hildesheim. The current church building was built from wood in the neo-Gothic style after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and was consecrated on March 29, 1908. During the Second World War , St. Matthew's was the only church in San Francisco that maintained its German-language worship service. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the congregation, the Senate Rules Committee of California declared June 11, 1995 St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church Day .
location
St. Matthew Church is located in the northwestern part of the Mission District on the corner of Dolores Street and 16th Street across from Mission Dolores and Mission Dolores Basilica along part of the 49-Mile Scenic Drive . This was the northern end point of the Camino Real in the Spanish colonial times in the 18th century . Dolores Park and Mission High School are in the neighborhood.
history
Early church
The Evangelical Lutheran parish of St. Matthäus was founded in 1895 by pastor Hermann Gehrke (1865-1936) from Hildesheim . First-generation parishioners included Albert Kuner , who created the engraving for the state coat of arms of California , and Helene Strybing , who became better known for the donation made to the Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park . A number of parishioners came to California during the 1849 gold rush . The stained glass windows in the church of St. Matthew's Church are reminiscent of some of these immigrants.
Strybing altar window
Ohlandt window
Albrecht Küner window
Parents Gehrke's window
Himmelmann window
Faber window
In the world wars
During the First World War , a difficult time for the German-Americans , many German-speaking churches in North America stopped their mother-tongue services. The St. Matthew Church, on the other hand, retained the German-language service and also introduced an English-language service.
During the Second World War, St. Matthew's was the only church in San Francisco that maintained its German-language worship service. Hermann Lucas, Gehrke's successor, also looked after the around 5,000 German prisoners of war who were interned in the Presidio , on Treasure Island and Angel Island . After the Second World War, the community collected money and clothing for the Evangelical Relief Organization in Germany. In the post-war period, new immigrants came to St. Matthew's Church and revitalized the community.
Present function
In honor of the then 100-year-old congregation, the California Senate Rules Committee declared June 11, 1995 “St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church Day ”in California (State Senate Resolution No. 1555). Today the St. Matthew Church is the center of an Evangelical-Lutheran German-speaking congregation for San Francisco and the surrounding area. Due to the structural change, the community is fighting against the decline in membership and is in the process of renewal. The congregation belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Sierra Pacific Synod of the ELCA as well as the German Evangelical Lutheran Conference in North America (DELKINA). Because of its acoustics, the church building is now also used as a concert hall by choirs.
literature
- Kurt Adelsberger, Herman Lucas: Seventy-Fifth Anniversary 1895–1970. St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church. San Francisco 1970.
- John Edward Hoick: The Fruitage of Fifty Years in California: A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of California in Connection with the United Lutheran Church in America. Los Angeles 1941.
- Ruth Hendricks Willard, Carol Green Wilson, Joseph Armstrong Baird Jr., Roy Flamm: Sacred Places of San Francisco . Presidio Press, Novato, California 1985.
Web links
- St. Matthew's Lutheran Church website
- Website of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church Conference in North America (DELKINA)
Coordinates: 37 ° 45 ′ 52 " N , 122 ° 25 ′ 33.2" W.