Matthews, Sister Eva Mary

Matthews, Sister Eva Mary (Feb. 9, 1862-July 6, 1928). Founder of the Community of the Transfiguration. She was born in Oakencroft, near Glendale, Ohio, and raised a Presbyterian. Matthews studied at Wellesley College in 1880-1881. She decided to follow her clergyman brother Paul into the Episcopal Church during a visit to Oxford University in 1890. Shortly after her confirmation, she and Paul went to Omaha where he joined a group of young clergy living in community and serving as urban missioners. Eva kept house for the men, established women’s guilds, did parish visiting, and taught Sunday School and parochial school. Early in 1893 Eva experienced a “personal revival” and recognized her calling to the religious life. She opened a community house for women, whose inhabitants continued the mission work she had begun. In 1896 Eva and Paul returned to Cincinnati. Eva and a friend established Bethany Mission House and began to live by a rule and wear a distinctive dress. On Aug. 6, 1898, the Feast of the Transfiguration, Eva and her companion, Beatrice Henderson, made their profession in St. Luke’s Church, Cincinnati, before Assistant Bishop Boyd Vincent of Southern Ohio. This was the founding of the Community of the Transfiguration. On Aug. 6, 1903, Sister Eva took her life vows. Paul became Bishop of New Jersey in 1915. Mother Eva Mary died in Denver. See Transfiguration, Community of.