Where we Worship: Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church
If there's one congregation in the city that's embraced evolution, it's Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church.
IF THERE'S one congregation in the city that's embraced evolution, it's Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church.
St. Matthew's dedicated worshippers have followed it across three locations in the past 15 years, adapting to new surroundings after each move.
Naturally, said the pastor, Rev. Steven Avinger, those transitions required some work.
Who we are: Avinger's flock numbers just over 400, he said, mostly adults in the 35- to 40-year-old range, who bring their young families with them from across the city to Sunday services.
That's quite a contrast from his early years at the church - Avinger has been preaching at St. Matthew for 27 years - when the average age of his congregants was "about 50," he said.
Where we worship: This is where it gets complicated.
St. Matthew's was founded about 90 years ago in a converted stable on Federal Street near 23rd in Point Breeze, Avinger said. Its current home is on Wingohocking Street near 16th in Nicetown, a space the church has occupied since October.
Before that, the congregation was located on Fitzwater Street near Grays Ferry Avenue in Southwest Center City, where it had sat for about 12 years.
But then "progress" got in the way. A developer bought the property across from the church and built Toll's Naval Square, a luxury gated community of town houses and condominiums. Parking suddenly became scarce, an issue for Avinger's congregation of commuters.
So, three years ago, church leaders decided to cut their losses and sell the building, the former home of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church.
"We knew we had to find someplace where we could address our parking needs and live in a community where we could be as effective as we once were on Fitzwater Street," Avinger said.
On the market: St. Matthew's second home was quickly sold, and the hunt began for a third where members could park in peace.
But the criteria included more than a paved lot.
"Moving from one part of the city to another is like moving from one country to another," Avinger said. "So we met many times to find the place that was right for us."
They eventually settled on the former home of Triumph Baptist Church, and began the second phase of their transition.
Meet the neighbors: Avinger sent a team of congregants door-to-door in Nicetown to meet with the residents and introduce St. Matthew to them.
"We wanted to have them get a feel for us as a congregation," he said. "We wanted to talk to them, to see what their needs were."
The leadership at St. Matthew wanted to "deliberately reflect what the community is, not make it reflect what we are."
"We wanted the community to drive the programs we put in place, not the other way around," he said.
Mission accomplished: St. Matthew has welcomed 40 new, dedicated members in the few months it has been in Nicetown, according to the pastor.
How we worship: The man service for St. Matthew is Sunday at 11 a.m., which is divided into the adult Mass and the "children's church."
"We take them out of the adult worship experience and give them their own experience," Avinger said. "We teach them at their level, use language geared more toward what they're used to."
The children's church is held in the many classrooms located in St. Matthew's current home, which the congregation spent $1 million renovating before stepping through the front door in October.
God is . . . "Awesome," according to Avinger.
"Where we are in this nation, with so much turmoil, people of faith can face these things and know it's going to be OK, because there's a God who's looking over us.
"To me, that's awesome."