Tributes to Priest-Scholar Fr. Matthew Baker Pour In

Fr. Matthew Baker with Hierodeacon Herman (Majkrzak)
Fr. Matthew Baker with Hierodeacon Herman (Majkrzak), Palm Sunday 2012

It’s been about 36 hours, but we’re still stunned at the death of Fr. Matthew Baker, the promising and brilliant priest-scholar who somehow seems to have been the friend of so many, beloved by so many, and called “the next Florovsky” by so many.

With so many who connected so deeply to him, there have been many tributes being written in remembrance of him, and I wanted to collect all the ones I could find here so that they can all be seen, if possible.

Before I list them, though, I want to draw your attention to a practical way that you can pay tribute to Fr. Matthew: Support his family. Fr. Matthew leaves behind his wonderful, hard-working, sacrificial wife Presbytera Katherine, along with six children. Father and Presbytera also just mourned the loss of a stillborn son Alexis who was born just a couple weeks ago.

A fund has been set up, and all the donations received will go directly to Katie and the kids. It’s amazing how much has already been raised—hundreds of thousands in just a day and a half—but even the amount that has been raised is not enough, not yet. This is not a wealthy family (indeed, they were basically on the edge of poverty while Fr. Matthew was completing his schooling), and Presbytera Katherine will be raising these beautiful children on her own. Think about how much you need to support your family every year. Now think that it will be 16 more years before their youngest child is of age.

Now give. Any amount is appreciated. Thank you.

And if you are able to attend his funeral services, details have been posted by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston. He will be buried this Saturday morning.

Here are the tributes to Fr. Matthew (in alphabetical order by author’s last name):

News Stories:

If you find any more tributes or news stories posted, will you share them here? We will add them to this post.

17 comments:

  1. I would rather send money that isn’t charged a fee, on both ends. Is there a mailing address? Gofundme Is a great idea, but someone is making a profit off needy and charitable people. Thank you, and I am so sorry for this family.

    1. You can contact email hidden; JavaScript is required for more information.

      GoFundMe is providing a valuable service that would not otherwise be available, so it’s one of the ways that’s being used.

  2. I would like to send a check
    Directly to the Baker address.
    How can I find this?

    1. You can contact email hidden; JavaScript is required for more information.

  3. Newman wrote to Bowden on March 2, 1836 to describe the death of his good friend, Froude:
    “It is very mysterious that any one so remarkably and variously gifted, and with talents so fitted for these times, should be removed. I never, on the whole, fell in with so gifted a person.”

    These words resonate with my own feelings about Fr. Matthew

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