Marjorie Swank Matthews

Marjorie Swank Matthews

11 July 1916 - 30 June 1986


Bishop Marjorie Matthews

Council of Bishops Memorial
3-23-87
Dwight E. Loder

When parents of a newborn baby cuddle it in their arms, the wonder of the miracle of new life and love overwhelms them. All other questions are secondary or inconsequentional.

When Jesse Swank, a cooper and lumberjack in Onaway, Michigan, and his lovely wife Mae received their newborn daughter, it probably never occurred to them to so much as wonder where she might go or what she might become one day. But then, who could have known July 11, 1916, that Marjorie Swank would become a fulcrum on which church history would turn a corner and move in a new direction?

Her parents probably would not have believed that on May 2, 1984, the esteemed Bishop William Cannon who delivered the Episcopal Address would begin it by saying, "Fathers and mother, brothers and sisters: this is the first time this salutation has been used in the Episcopal Address to General Conference. Heretofore it would have been inappropriate. Now it is proper, because in 1980 a woman was elected to our Episcopacy, demonstrating that even in so venerable an institution as the Church, 'time makes ancient good uncouth.'"

"But now the election of Marjorie Matthews is a watershed in Ecclesiastical history. There is no other instance in the whole of Christiandom where a major world communion has opened its Episcopal ranks to a woman. By divine providence the United Methodist Church in this way has given validity to the New Testament claim: 'there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor fee, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus'" (Galatians 3:28).

As her life unfolded, it became increasingly clear that she was a remarkably able young child, becoming a gifted young woman. When she was but six years of age her father exchanged cutting trees and transforming them into lumber as well as shaping barrel staves and making barrels, for the innovate work of making wooden steering wheels, (remember them?) and wooden bicycle wheels. This new work took them from the upper reaches of the lower peninsula to Alma, Michigan, well down into the State of Michigan.

Obviously, Marjorie lived with parents who were innovative and moved along with the day in which they lived. Perhaps this accounts for the frontier mentality and courage as well as the entrepreneurship that characterized the life of their daughter Marjorie. She was a marvelous innovator. She lived at the cutting edge of mental and spiritual, cultural and social developments throughout her lifetime. To paraphrase and personalize the words of the author of the letter to Timothy, "God did not give Marjorie the spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power and love and self-control."

She finished primary and secondary schooling in Alma, Michigan, and completed a two-year business course in the college there. She became Mrs. Matthews in the new chapel in the Methodist Church in Alma. The second World War took charge of their lives from then until the war ended.

While they were stationed in Texas, in 1944, their son William was born. He never ceased being a source of enormous joy and satisfaction to his mother, from the day of his birth to the hour of her death. Recently he said of his mother, "She was always devoted to the Church. Her love for the ministry, however, was equalled by her love for her family and especially for her grandchildren. There are three of them, two boys and a girl. She often took them on vacations, or attended special events in their lives with them. They loved her as she loved them." And who among us has not talked with Marjorie about those grandchildren? To talk with her about them was to sense her pride and yet the feeling of humility that was always so much a part of her.

William went on to say, "My mother believed in what she believed in strongly, and would not allow her beliefs to be maligned. However, she always respected persons who differed with her. Her faith was firm and her belief was certain. She had a pleasant patience that characterized her love for us through the years."

The Matthews marriage was among the tragic casualties of the wartime and early post-war days. But Marjorie with her characteristic courage and determination, her strength and commitment, did not succumb to the frustrations and to her grief as she kept on going on.

She worked for the Lobdell Company as secretary and assistant treasurer from 1946-1963. But true to her frontier spirit she was busy pastoring a parish at the same time. She went to Western Michigan University in 1963, completed her undergraduate education in 1968, and then went to Colgate-Rochester Divinity School where she earned a B.D. degree which was granted to her in 1970.

All of this time, she was involved in the pastoral ministry. She went on to Florida State University in 1970 to work toward and earn a Ph.D. degree in theology. It was an inspiration to be her Bishop from 1964, and to work through many of these life-shaping decisions with her.

There was never any wavering in her elemental commitment to Christ and to the parish ministry. There were hard decisions along the way, obviously, and she never backed away from a tough decision of from the consequential demands they placed upon her. Early on I learned that she faced hardship and self-sacrifice with a chuckle or a low-keyed laugh, but never in tears and torment complaining or blaming. Her life vibrations were always positive. "God did not give Marjorie the spirit of timidity, but of power, love and self-control."

From 1959, when she had her first appointment as a lay pastor, until she became a District Superintendent in 1976, she served seven different parishes. Some of them were parishes that would try the soul and purpose of a saint, but she was never forced to move except by circumstances of schooling. The members of each parish she served wanted her to continue on with them when it became necessary for her to leave.

When she left the appointment at Evart to go to Florida to school, the people petitioned the Cabinet and me to keep the church open for her return, whenever it might be. I need not tell this audience why that was not possible or that few pastors would have such an unqualified vote of support.

After she earned her Ph.D. degree, Marjorie returned to serve two different parishes in the West Michigan Conference. January 1, 1976, she entered into Cabinet life as the Superintendent of the Grand Traverse District. It took two months, two snowstorms and one blizzard to convince her to give up her miniature runabout automobile and buy a car that would give her adequate protection, not only in storms and on icy roads but over the maze of roads she would have to travel in the late night hours after Charge Conferences or meetings. Even then, she was sure such protection was a foolish waste. Time and again I reminded her she should stop peddling her go-cart around the district and drive an automobile, and her response would literally be to bounce up and down like a bubble on a hot stove.

September 1, 1976, Bishop Edsel Ammons became her Bishop, and she served the rest of the Cabinet years under his leadership. She was fond of him and held him in the highest regard. Recently he said of her, "She was a woman with an indomitable spirit. She took on any job in the most gracious way with a capacity mentally and spiritually to overcome any and every difficulty. She had a tremendous grasp of the Church. She did her work in a manner that facilitated growth in other persons and challenged them to respond to life with generosity. I shall always cherish the memories that I have of working with her."

Marjorie was an uncomplaining fighter and a sensible but confirmed optimist. During the final years of her life she had several bouts with major surgery. They were enough to devastate almost any one of us. She learned long before her death that she was in a life and death struggle with cancer. But whoever heard from her so much as a question, a low moan or a quiet complaint? She lived with joy, and she was a personification of the joy of Jesus Christ in its fullness in a human being. God had not given her the spirit of timidity but of power, love and self-control.

My last contacts with her were to invite her to speak at Commencement of Methesco in May of 1986. She readily agreed. Then came the final onset of her illness. Quietly I contacted Bishop Judy Craig and she agreed to stand by silently in the wings, ready to speak if Marge could not. However, Marge insisted she would be able to come up to a few days before the event. And she was somewhat distressed and amazed that she could not rise to the occasion.

Recently I talked with Bishop Craig about Marjorie. Among other things, she said, "Bishop Leontine Kelly and I have agreed that we have the privilege of sitting where we sit because Marge was brave enough to be there first." Yes, God did not give her the spirit of timidity but of power, love and discipline.

Bishop Marjorie Matthews was confident in her belief in an eternal life. David Reed somewhere has written, "The only definition of eternal life I know in the Bible is 'knowing God.' Quite simply, my belief in eternal life rests on the fact that to know God is to know God forever. To put it another way: when God grasps you, God does not let go - not even when the body wears out and the heart stops beating. For the Christian no other assurance is needed."

Marjorie knew God. When the time came for us to let go, we were certain that God held on to her and did not, and never will, let go. Amen.

- West Michigan Annual Conference minutes of 1987, pp. 294-196

Bishop Marjorie Swank Matthews

Marjorie Ruth Swank Matthews was born on July 11, 1916. She was a native on Onaway, Michigan, and prepared herself for a career in the business world. She eventually became the secretary to the president and assisant treasurer of a large automotive parts manufacturing plant in Alma, Michigan. Her World War II marriage ended in divorce and she raised her son, William, as a single parent.

In the late 1950s, Marjorie did some lay speaking on the Central District. This led her to seek the part-time Local Pastor status which in turn required her to attend the Lay Pastors' School at Garrett Theological Seminary (now Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary). The seminary faculty quickly recognized her potential for ministry and encouraged her to go into the full-time ministry. She entered Central Michigan College (now C.M.U.) where she eventually earned the Bachelor's Degree. In 1963, at the age of 47, she entered Colgate-Rochester Divinity School and earned the Master of Divinity Degree. Then she enrolled at Florida State University and earned two degrees, one of them being a Ph.D.

Marjorie served the following churches in the West Michigan Conference: Pleasant Valley-Leaton, Vermontville-Gresham, Sunfield-Sebewa Center, Evart, Ashley-Bannister, and Napoleon. In 1976, Bishop Dwight E. Loder of the Michigan Area appointed her to be the District Superintendent of the Grand Traverse District. At the North Central Jurisdiction Conference in 1980, on July 17, she was elected bishop, making her the first woman bishop of any major denomination in modern times. She was appointed to the Wisconsin Area where she served until 1984, when she reached the mandatory retirement age. Following her retirement, she was in demand as a speaker and preacher, and she taught at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.

On June 30, 1986, Marjorie died at M.J. Clark Memorial Home. She had been stricken with cancer some months earlier. Funeral services were held in her home church, First United Methodist Church of Alma, on July 3, 1986. She had been a member of that church since she was 12 years old. Burial was in the Alma Cemetery.

Space limitations do not allow for an adequate expression of the extraordinary life of this servant of Jesus Christ. When she died the national media carried articles about her -- among these were the Detroit Free Press, the Grand Rapids Press, and the New York based Religious News Service. The Michigan Christian Advocate, in its July 14 issue, printed a front-page article about her, and on page 16 of the same issue presented a full-page report of her funeral service which was attended by seven bishops, a large number of ministerial colleagues, former parishoners and friends. Bishop Loder said of her, "She lived a people-committment to Christ and to the church...Hers was a joyous sense of humor and she was consciencious to a fault. The church could not have elected a finer bishop."

- West Michigan Annual Conference minutes of 1987, pp. 286-287

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