Mark A. Matthews (September 24, 1867 – 1940) was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

minister in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, from 1902 until his death. He was a leading city reformer, who investigated red light districts and crime scenes, denouncing corrupt politicians businessmen and saloon keepers. With 10,000 members, his was the largest Presbyterian Church in the country, and he was selected the national moderator in 1912. He built a model church, with night schools, unemployment bureaus, kindergarten, an anti-tuberculosis clinic, and the nation's first church-owned radio station. Matthews was the most influential clergymen in the Pacific Northwest, and one of the most active

Social Gospel The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean envir ...

ers in America.Dale Soden
Matthews, Reverend Mark (1867-1940)
HistoryLink, January 13, 2007. Accessed online 7 February 2009. He was an enigmatic figure, holding views in common with both

Christian fundamentalists Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British an ...

and liberals, especially the Social Gospel movement. He battled corruption (especially in the person of Seattle mayor

Hiram Gill Hiram C. Gill (August 23, 1866 – January 7, 1919) was an American lawyer and two-time Mayor of Seattle, Washington, identified with the "open city" politics that advocated toleration of prostitution, alcohol, and gambling.David WilmaGill, Hira ...

) and encouraged social services. There is a statue of him in Seattle's

Denny Park Denny Park is a park located in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It occupies the block bounded by John Street and Denny Way on the north and south and Dexter and 9th Avenues N. on the west and east. History Denny Park i ...

. In line with his Progressive leanings, Matthews was an advocate of the

Temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

. In his writings, he extended the Temperance platform of abstinence from alcohol to include other vices and associated institutions. He is quoted as saying, "The saloon is the most fiendish, corrupt, hell-soaked institution that ever crawled out of the slime of the eternal pit. ... It takes your sweet innocent daughter, robs her of her virtue, and transforms her into a brazen, wanton harlot.... It is the open sore of this land". Unusually for a prohibitionist, Matthews opposed

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. He also supported limitations on the immigration of Asians. Born in

Calhoun, Georgia Calhoun is a city in Gordon County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,949. Calhoun is the county seat of Gordon County. History In December 1827, Georgia had already claimed the Cherokee lands that b ...

, in a family beset by post

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

poverty, Matthews grew up in the environment of Southern revivalism and, later, post-

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

radical agrarian politics. His religious education was largely informal, but by 1886, at the age of 19, he was a preacher, first in Georgia and later in Tennessee. In 1902, he moved to Seattle to become pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. He married Grace Jones in 1904; they were to have two children, Gwladys and Mark Jr. As pastor from 1902 to 1940, Matthews built his church into the country's largest

church; at its height, it had 10,000 members. He helped create such institutions as

Harborview Medical Center Harborview Medical Center is a public hospital located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is managed by UW Medicine. Overview Harborview Medical Center is the designated Disaster Control Hospital for Seat ...

and the organization that began as the Seattle Day Nursery and is now

Childhaven Childhaven is a nonprofit organization that serves children (0–13 years) and their families who have experienced adversity and trauma in King County, Washington, United States. The agency runs several programs: Early Learning, Counseling Services ...

, an institution to treat child abuse. He established

KTW Radio KTRW (630 kHz) is a locally owned AM radio station licensed to Opportunity, Washington, and serving the Spokane metropolitan area. It airs a Christian talk and teaching radio format for part of its day, with adult standards heard in several ti ...

in 1922, the first church-owned radio station in the U.S. First Presbyterian also spun out branch churches, including University Presbyterian Church, which continues to be a major institution to this day.

Notes

External links

Pistol-Packing Parson: Mark Matthews and Protestant Culture in the Pacific Northwest

Photographs including Mark A. Matthews from University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Mark A 1867 births 1940 deaths Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers American temperance activists People from Calhoun, Georgia American anti-corruption activists Anti-suffragists

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Further reading

External links