The Rev. Justin Mathews discusses Reconciliation Social Ventures Inc., supporting development without displacement and more
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Occupation: Missionary priest, nonprofit leader and socialpreneur
Twitter handle: @Mathews_J
Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri
Current neighborhood: Squier Park, east of Troost
What I do: I am priest of St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox Christian Church; executive director of Reconciliation Services, a community-building organization at 31st Street and Troost; husband; and dad of three boys, all avid scouters.
What’s your addiction? Dreaming up new projects
What’s your game? Myst, but it has been since high school. Now I watch my kids play Minecraft nonstop on the Xbox.
What’s your drink? Small-batch roasted coffee or Serbian Slivovitz
Where’s dinner? Port Fonda or my house
What’s on your KC postcard? Black-and-white photos of Christmas Day on Troost Avenue circa 1930.
Finish this sentence: “Kansas City got it right when …” It elected Mayor Sly James.
“Kansas City screwed up when …” It used racially restrictive covenants to segregate the city and in the process created Troost as an economic and racial dividing line.
“Kansas City needs …” To continue to look for ways to support development without displacement in the urban core and create more affordable housing.
“As a kid, I wanted to be …” Able to write songs as well as Patty Griffin, rock like Fugazi and sing like Jean Valjean from the original London cast of Les Misérables.
“In five years, I’ll be …” Helping my first son pack to leave for university.
“I always laugh at …” My own jokes.
“I’ve been known to binge-watch …” Episodes of The Flash or House of Cards. Depends on if the kids are up!
“I can’t stop listening to …” Bill Mallonee’s song “Resplendent” and the Men’s Choir of Valaam Monastery’s “Shrines of the Russian North” recording.
“My dream concert lineup is …” Gillian Welch, Johnny Cash, Bill Mallonee, Over the Rhine, Kevin Clay (acoustic set only), and then the Dwarf cast singing “Misty Mountains.”
“I just read …” Poor Folk by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
What’s your hidden talent? Songwriting and live performance
What’s your guiltiest pleasure? Sleeping in past 7 a.m.
The best advice I ever got: My first boss out of college told me to always “inspect what you expect.”
Worst advice: In high school while working in a construction call center, the manager told us, “All you have to know is 10 percent more than the person you are talking to and you are a genius.” It takes a whole lot more than that.
My sidekick: My mutt dog, Kenai
What is your spirit animal? A moose
Who is your hero? St. John of Kronstadt — a missionary Russian Orthodox priest to the poor in the 19th century who started the House of Industry to employ hundreds of people.
Who (or what) is your nemesis? The devil of distraction
What’s your greatest struggle right now? Do the important, not the urgent.
My favorite toy as a child: My guitar
My dating triumph/tragedy: Once, before I was married, I drove eight hours through the night from Tennessee to surprise my girlfriend, only to hear from her college roommate through the locked door, “I’m one of Jodi’s best friends, and I can tell you definitively she doesn’t have a boyfriend!” I married Jodi a year later.
My brush with fame: This is it.
My soapbox: Veneration — the act of loving and respecting each person as a “living icon” made in the image of God.
What was the last thing you had to apologize for? Secretly eating my son’s peppermint-bark chocolate bar.
Who’s sorry now? I am, to everyone for everything. I repent as the chief among sinners.
My recent triumph: Launching Reconciliation Social Ventures Inc., a social venture contract packaging company owned by Reconciliation Services, to create jobs east of Troost.
St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox Christian Church is at 3101 Troost.
