While many amateur historians who delve into the depths of parish records can find the exercise frustrating, this has not been the experience for St. Matthew’s parishioner Daisy Wong.
She has been enjoying collecting bits and pieces of the Surrey parish’s history. Driven by a desire to share that history with newcomers, Wong hopes they will gain a sense of gratitude and appreciation for the parish community they have inherited. If it helps them contribute to the parish or join even a single ministry, all the better.
Storytelling is a profoundly human activity. It not only gives shape to the world but it also helps to bridge the gap between people who may not have shared experiences. Like St. Matthew’s, growing communities sometimes struggle to integrate the new with the old, and stories can help.
“I feel that if people knew a little bit more about the human aspect of things, maybe they would have a sense of gratitude about what they have now,” Wong told The B.C. Catholic.
Since the summer, she has poured over binders full of parish records and tracked down stacks of old parish bulletins saved by the Stones, one of the parish’s founding families.
She has run into some surprising hurdles. Photos were more plentiful before the advent of digital photography. People seemed more intentional about documenting happenings at the parish when it took some effort. Social media, it would seem, has made us lazy.
Wong is still determining how she will ultimately share the stories she gathers through her research. However, she feels a sense of urgency. Older parishioners are passing away, and with them go their stories.
In addition to archival materials, Wong has begun collecting interviews with significant St. Matthew’s community members, as well as its previous pastors, such as founder Father Glenn Dion. Talking about it gets her teary-eyed.
“Gratitude is the biggest message I want to portray,” she said, “because I truly feel that without these people who work so hard we wouldn’t have such a vibrant and wonderful parish.”
“I just feel like the baton needs to be passed,” said Wong, adding that many parishioners who built that parish deserve some recognition.
Wong has been at St. Matthew’s since its early days, and she remembers kneeling on the hard gym floor before the church building was completed, an experience she believes is difficult to communicate. Without kneeling on the hard gym floor, it’s hard to appreciate the entire story of the parish founders, she said.
She hopes her children will one day look at their lives and see their parents’ hard work, the same way she is trying to help newcomers understand the work done to create the parish community they are part of and enjoy.
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