Celebrating 100 Years
Saint Matthew’s began as a small mission church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin in 1920. In preparation for its 100th anniversary, the extensive archive of newsletters and photographs, built and maintained through the decades by staff and volunteers, was opened, revealing a rich story of spiritual devotion, generosity, action, and growth. What is perhaps most inspiring is hearing it told in the words of the people themselves.
More than a scrapbook or yearbook, The Voice: St. Matthew’s Ev. Lutheran Church on the 100th Anniversary contains 450 historic photographs, as well as profiles of pastoral leaders, interviews with long-time and recent member families, name index for genealogy research, and more than 2,000 excerpts from The Voice—St. Matthew’s newsletter—and other sources. It provides a glimpse into the evolution of a caring ELCA congregation against a subtle backdrop of local, national and world events.
Committee: Al Van Lith, chair, Linda Dulak Chadwick, editor and designer, Carl Johnson, Allan Land, and Bob Zwaska.
TO ORDER: Soft cover, 496 pages, $39.95.
Please contact St. Matthew’s.
The Timeline
A timeline is recommended for any large project, and it’s important to plan for the unexpected. The initial, fourteen-member committee began in October 2019 with the goal of producing a 100-page book by May 2020. Just as the project was hitting its stride, the pandemic intervened, reducing the committee to five willing, energetic volunteers. In the end, the process took twenty months, and while technically eight months late, the 496-page book was worth the wait. The rest, as they say, is history!
2019
October through November
Organizational meetings generated ideas and identified members, both longterm and recent, to interview. The vast church archive contained every newsletter from 1932 to the present, architectural models, more than 700 photographs printed on paper and 300 slides. The committee requested images from church staff and members, and assigned interviews before taking a break for the holidays.
2020
March through December
A committee of five read the entire archive of newsletters, decade by decade, selecting highlights of general interest and typing more than 600 pages of text for editing. Book design was determined and all archives photos, scanned. Photo selection, placement and photo correction for sharpness and color, even for black and white photos, is the most time-consuming.
2021
January through June
Work continued concurrently with name indexing and two rounds of proofreading. It took several weeks for reviewers to submit all text changes. Files were sent to the printer at the end of April and a hardcopy proof produced for last-minute photo adjustments. The finished books were delivered to the church in early June, about six weeks later.
© Photo and sample layout, St. Matthews Ev. Lutheran Church, Wauwatosa, WI. Used with permission.