St Matthew’s exterior is light brownish-orange with a tall spire that rises out of a courtyard. The courtyard has a lot of greenery, as well as alternating black and white diamonds on the ground. There is a bright red door at the front in which you walk into the interior of the church. The interior is made of two levels; the first level consists of a center aisle, with rows of wooden pews on either side. The pews have red padding, and the floors are made of marble. The second level has a white balcony rail that wraps around some seating and the choir loft. The choir loft has chairs for the vocalists and a large organ with organ pipes coming up the wall at the very front of the church. There are many stained glass windows on both levels. The most memorable is the reformation window, that shows Martin Luther holding a scroll (there are no words seen in the window, but it is probably part of his 95 theses), and Luther is speaking to the Council of Worms and with a German royal at Augsburg. The feeling inside of the building is very still, when you don’t go on a Sunday. The people inside the church were friendly and formal, but I assume at a Sunday Service, the space would be filled with families and it would radiate life. It smelled lightly of incense and cleaning supplies. The atmosphere was a reverent one. 

The Church itself is very beautiful, and is quite impressive to look at. It has an almost majestic presence as it rises over King’s St. More than that, however, it feels like a part of Charleston. It’s one of the city’s oldest churches, and it has loyal parishioners whose families have been going there for decades. The German population was growing in the 19th century when the church was built. By 1860, Germans made up about 5% of the Charleston population, and Germans were often Lutheran. This means this church would have been a sanctuary for a minority group in the city. It was also a place that cared for many German Charlestonians during the yellow fever outbreak. This church seems welcoming, much like the city itself.

The church itself is very beautiful and still, and presents itself as a place where reverence is assumed when you walk through the doors. Some churches feel somewhat informal, but this one has an almost regal atmosphere. You can almost believe that God would gather his people in a place like this. I think this represents the feeling of Southern identity that being religious and consistent with your history is the most important aspect of oneself. It reminds me of the Revival and Camp meetings where people would leave their homes and their work to gather together in both a physical and spiritual sense. There wasn’t a physical building, but there was still that sense of community. A Southern stereotype is that they see themselves as God’s people and put a lot of emphasis on religious tradition, and this church seems to be the type of place where religious tradition is seriously upheld by the congregation.