Photographs of Mark A. Matthews, approximately 1880-1940

Mark Matthews (September 24, 1867 – 1940) was minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Seattle from 1902 until his death in 1940. During that time he had a significant role in Seattle's history.

Matthews's life reflects many of the currents and tensions that prevailed in America from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the Second World War. He was deeply aware of the change in America from a rural orientation to an urban and industrialized one. Involved with the progressive movement, he found the implications of the First World War and the radical labor movement in Seattle threatening. In this context Matthews fought to make the Church a moving force within society and preserve his concept of religious orthodoxy. This led him to become a proponent of fundamentalism and an opponent of modernism within the Presbyterian church.

Born in Calhoun, Georgia, on September 24, 1867, Matthews received his formal education at the town's local academy. He was ordained there in 1887, and after brief ministries in Calhoun and Dalton, Georgia, he accepted a ministry in Jackson, Tennessee. Clearly part of the social gospel movement, Matthews attempted to adapt the church to urban conditions. During his years in Jackson, 1896-1901, he was instrumental in building a hospital, organizing a night school, and founding a local humane society. His work as an organizer and preacher earned him an honorary doctorate from Tennessee Normal University and soon after, a call to become minister to Seattle's First Presbyterian Church.

Matthews viewed himself as a progressive with the dual mission of expanding his church and rooting out the corruption prevalent in Seattle at that time. Membership in his congregation grew to ten thousand, the largest Presbyterian church in the world. At the same time, he waged active campaigns against Seattle mayors, police chiefs, business leaders, saloon keepers, and others whom he perceived as evil.

By 1912 Matthews had been elected moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. This led to a close association with Woodrow Wilson, and Matthews became a frequent guest at the White House. As Wilson's devoted follower, Matthews began to consider opponents of Wilson as well as Seattle's radical labor leaders in the International Woodworkers of the World grave threats to the security of the nation. Consequently he became increasingly conservative, calling for restriction of immigration and repressive measures in the context of the red scare of the 1920s, and increasingly strident in his support for such issues as Prohibition, fundamentalism, and William Jennings Bryan's crusade against the teaching of evolution. Strongly opinionated, Matthews made many enemies, but he also had thousands of devoted followers. While his theology was relatively simple, his life reveals the complexity of forces working in America as this Southerner in the Pacific Northwest attempted to lead Seattle to his own particular vision of righteousness.