Our Community

We must always remember the ground beneath us, the earth, the soil and the histories and systems inherited.

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” (Psalm 24:1) We gather on land with memory shaped by stewardship, struggle, beauty, and loss. In Scripture, land is never merely property; it is gift, covenant, and responsibility.

Acknowledging the land and history is not about assigning personal blame. It is about recognizing that we inherit histories and systems. Scripture teaches that sin can be communal, and faithfulness requires honest truth-telling as the first step toward reconciliation. The prophets call God’s people to tell the truth about injustice tied to land. Repentance begins with naming reality honestly.

St. Matthew is located in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood, a community that has experienced profound social, economic, demographic, and racial change.

For generations, Southwest D.C. was a deeply rooted Black community filled with families, churches, businesses, and vibrant cultural life including jazz clubs and Black locally owned shops.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Southwest became the site of one of the largest urban renewal projects in the United States. Entire blocks were demolished, and thousands of Black residents were displaced as the federal government rebuilt the neighborhood with high-rise apartments, federal buildings, and new housing developments.

The impact of that displacement is still felt today.

Nearby communities like Greenleaf Gardens remain an important part of the neighborhood’s social fabric and history.

Today, Southwest reflects the complexity of modern urban life:

• long-time Black residents
• federal workers and military families from nearby Fort McNair
• young professionals and renters
• service workers and hospitality staff
• immigrant families
• residents of public and subsidized housing
• newcomers living in luxury apartments along the Wharf and Navy Yard

Luxury condos and restaurants sit alongside affordable housing and historic communities. It is a neighborhood marked by both opportunity and inequality.

St. Matthew seeks to be a church that honors the past, engages the present, and helps shape a more just future for everyone who calls Southwest D.C. home. We are striving to be a presence in our Southwest Waterfront D.C. Neighborhood. Will you join us in this flow? Volunteer for upcoming community events?

Please feel free to reach out to our pastor mbarrios@metrodcelca.org