About St. Matthew's Episcopal Church
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After 74 years of serving the community of Mexico, Missouri, the red doors of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church have closed.
On Saturday, June 27, 2020, the Rt. Rev. Deon Johnson, Eleventh Bishop of the Diocese of Missouri, presided at Holy Eucharist to officially close the parish. The Rev. Canon Doris Westfall, the Bishop’s Canon to the Ordinary, and the Rev. Christina Cobb, Rector of St. Matthew’s, helped lead the service.
Ten people, including the three clergy, were on hand for the final worship service. In his sermon, Bishop Deon challenged all those who have called St. Matthew’s home in the past to continue to “be St. Matthew’s” in the way they live every single day.
“God is in the business of resurrecting the places we often call dead,” the Bishop said. “There is life here. There is energy here. There is hope here and dare I say, there is resurrection here. Life has changed, not ended.”
The Diocese of Missouri will keep the property for possible redevelopment in the future.
Mexico is located in Central Missouri, about a half-hour north of Columbia. St. Matthew’s was founded in 1956 under the leadership of Bishop Arthur Lichtenberger. It became a parish in 1991. Rector Christina Cobb said in its strongest days, St. Matthew’s had 60-80 members attending each week. In recent years, that attendance had dropped to 10-14 members.
