“Chartered on December 6, 1664” rings through the ages. This marks the official birth of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Matthew. It is the oldest Lutheran congregation in North America. We stand before a testament to faith. It has been tested by time and transformed by circumstance.
St. Matthew’s story began long before that charter. In the 1640s, Dutch Lutherans in New Amsterdam yearned to worship freely. They sent a delegation to Holland in 1648 seeking a minister. This was despite being denied open religious practice under Dutch rule. A minister arrived in 1657. He was promptly warned against holding services. He was jailed and deported in 1659.
Everything changed when the British seized the colony in 1664. Governor Richard Nicolls granted the Lutherans a charter. This seminal moment gave them the right to express their beliefs. This congregation has been known by different names. It did not acquire the name St. Matthew until 1822. It used the name exclusively since 1838.
St. Matthew’s has been a church on the move. Its first building was destroyed in 1673. This occurred a mere two years after its construction. It stood where Trinity Episcopal Church now stands. The congregation received land south of Rector Street and Broadway. They erected a new building named Trinity Church in 1729. This church was razed by fire during the Revolutionary War in 1776.
In 1750, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg was called to serve. He was the patriarch of American Lutheranism. It was a difficult time. Arguments arose over Dutch versus German for worship. Christ Church, a German congregation, formed. Trinity Church continued services in Dutch.
St. Matthew started a parish school in 1752. Concordia College later was housed at its Broome Street building. St. Matthew covered most of the college’s expenses until 1893. The church was planning another move to Harlem.
Rev. Dr. John Christopher Kunze played a crucial role. He helped compile the first Lutheran Hymnal in America in 1795. St. Matthew left the New York Ministerium in 1885. It joined the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States.
From Broome Street, St. Matthew started a mission at 145th Street and Convent Avenue in 1906. This became the permanent worship place in 1913. The Broome Street location closed.
In 1945, St. Matthew merged with Messiah Mission Church in Inwood. A new sanctuary at 202 Sherman Avenue was completed in 1957. The building was sold in 2006. The congregation moved south to the Cornerstone Center on 178 Bennett Avenue.
St. Matthew’s journey reminds us that the church is not a building. The church is the people. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. St. Matthew continues its ministry. It preserves the Word and Sacrament. It was commissioned by Christ Jesus. It was brought to the new world by faithful people.