In 1984, Maynard and Ruth Mathewson accepted the call to serve Paradise Valley Community Church, a nondenominational congregation of about seventy-five people, eighteen miles south of Livingston, Montana.
In the middle of Paradise Valley, the stuccoed church sits a couple hundred yards off of the Yellowstone River. The river writhes through the Montana valley floor from Gardiner to Livingston.
Just outside of Gardiner, the north entrance of Yellowstone Park, a highway sign serves notice: “Day Speed Limit: Reasonable and Prudent.” Ergo: Go as fast as you like; just don’t hurt anyone.
In this ungoverned environment, Maynard and Ruth care for one of the valley’s worshiping communities. The following photos capture the work of countless pastors charged with the everyday care of souls.
Main Street in Paradise Valley
Livingston, Montana, a hard-living town that caps the north end of Paradise Valley. The town, born in 1882, owes its beginnings to the building of the Northern Pacific Railroad. At that time, more than half its businesses were saloons. Today the town sports as many art galleries as saloons. Livingston is increasingly populated by suburban refugees looking for the Montana good life.
Command-and-Control Center
A lot of pastoral care happens on the phone. Maynard and Ruth’s breakfast bar (top) doubles as their ministry hub. The Mathewsons’ charges include ranchers, young professionals, small business owners, retirees, and this little girl (left) who is wearing a hunter-orange camouflage. It is “orange” night at AWANA, so most kids are wearing hunting gear.
Making Room for Office Visits
When Maynard sensed the youth (left) needed some special attention, he assisted the youth leaders for several weeks. He led Bible studies on finding purpose in life.
In Montana culture, people tend not to make appointments to see the pastor; they just drop in. So when the church remodeled, Maynard requested a room adjacent to the sanctuary. He uses this bare office when someone (bottom) asks to speak to him in private, such as during Wednesday evening’s busy schedule.
Pastoral Nuts and Bolts
Within the first two weeks of his arrival at the church, Maynard read the history of Park County. “I know the history of these people better than they do,” he says. In the late eighties, Maynard moved his ailing parents (now deceased) to a trailer house behind the parsonage. Octogenarian Anna Mae (top, on right) says that when Maynard arrived as pastor, the church liked him. “But when he brought his parents here, we knew he was all right.”
In all, Maynard speaks seven times a week (bottom left): Wednesday evening prayer service, Sunday morning and evening services, a Sunday school class, two Bible studies, and a weekly radio program sponsored by the church.
One Soul at a Time
Every Wednesday morning, Maynard drives the eighteen miles to Livingston and picks up Bruce, a young real estate agent. Along the banks of the Yellowstone River, which makes a sharp bend through town, Maynard shuts off the engine, and he and Bruce spend the better part of an hour working verse-by-verse through a book of the Bible. Common Bible study insights include bald eagles, Canada geese, mallard ducks, and white-tailed deer.
How to Gain a Hearing
Maynard rarely conducts home and hospital visits without his wife, Ruth (top left). She functions as Paradise Valley Community Church’s “other pastor.” Says Maynard, “We had to be here eight years before we gained a hearing.”
Hospital care (bottom left) is one way Maynard and Ruth gained a hearing.
The Solitude of Preparation
In his office at home (right), Maynard has a card taped over a small desk calendar. The card reads: “Look Beyond the Critic.”
God Is in the Details
Sunday liturgy commences with early morning snow shoveling (top), which Maynard, 57 years old, doesn’t chafe at: “I live only a couple hundred yards from the church.” Maynard then completes last-minute worship details, scribbling a note to the organist (bottom) about a transition from a chorus to a hymn. Then he returns home to change into his worship attire and read through his sermon one more time.
The Gospel in Motion
With a deep-timbered radio voice, Maynard leads the worshiping community in song (top). The mural behind the pulpit depicts a cross lying across an abyss of smoke and flames, with pilgrims safely walking across to eternal life. In the pine-paneled sanctuary (bottom), men, women, and children become reoriented to the world of the gospel.
1997 by Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.
