Historic St. Matthew Lutheran Church seeks emergency help

By Gabija Steponenaite

St. Matthew Lutheran Church at 2108 W. 21st St. has been helping the destitute and underprivileged for decades. Now the church itself needs help: in the midst of February’s bitter cold, St. Matthew’s boiler broke and the pipes in its community center kitchen exploded.

After the boiler’s demise, parishioners could not attend Mass at the church and gathered in St. Matthew’s Community Center instead. A few days later, when volunteers arrived at the community center to prepare food for the homeless and unemployed, they found the kitchen flooded.

More than 150 people rely on meals prepared by Maria L. Leal, director of community services, and her five volunteers. “Although we have no water, we continue to do our best to keep serving meals,” said Leal.

Parishioners must raise $12,000 to pay for emergency repairs to the boiler and to repair the kitchen’s water pipes.

St. Matthew has operated El Comedor Popular, the Popular Dining Place, for 17 years. “There was a big need in the community to open a soup kitchen. We realized that not only homeless people are walking hungry, but some families have nothing to put on their tables,” said the Rev. Julio A. Loza, pastor.

The soup kitchen started spontaneously without a budget or funding. One day caring parishioners decided to bring products and started preparing meals. Rev. Loza remembered with a smile, “There is a saying in Mexico, ‘They did it like Pancho Villa,’” explaining that the Mexican revolutionary was known for taking quick action.

Leal was among those parishioners who started the soup kitchen. She even attended culinary classes at St. Augustine College to acquire a chef’s assistant degree. “I saw that people need me, and I decided to do it,” she explained. Now she spends most of her time at the center. If she is not cooking, she cleans and prepares for the next week’s work, collects donations, or counsels abused women.

Word spread about the soup kitchen, and the number of people who eat perhaps their only meal of the day there steadily grew. “Some may come here just for a couple times, others come here regularly,” said Leal.

The soup kitchen is open Tuesdays and Thursdays and serves about 400 hot meals every week, including lunches for children who attend catechism. “Our menu is based on how much money we raised and what we have in the freezer,” Leal said.

El Comedor Popular supports itself through monthly rummage sales, fundraising dinners, Mexican food catering, and donations.

Those who come find more than a hot meal. “We also provide spiritual and emotional guidance or family counseling for those in need,” said Rev. Loza. “Before each meal we read holy scriptures and pray.”

Although Rev. Loza has had offers from other parishes, he has continued to work in this parish for more than 20 years. “Working there I feel that I fulfill my call,” he said. “There are many people who need our help.”

The congregation numbers approximately 145 families. The majority claim Mexican heritage, but the membership includes African American and Eastern European parishioners. Its main income is from donations.

The congregation “constantly changes,” Rev. Loza said. “The majority of our parishioners consist of the immigrant families who just started their lives in the U.S. Some of them may stay in the neighborhood for years, some of them move out quite quickly.”

St. Matthew’s was founded in 1871. In February 2006, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency officially designated the church a historic site.

To make a donation to help repair the boiler and the kitchen pipes, call (773) 847-6471.