A tribute to
"Brother Si" Mathison
1910-2006
Victory in Jesus
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I HEARD AN OLD,
OLD STORY
HOW A SAVIOUR CAME
FROM GLORY
HOW HE GAVE HIS LIFE
ON CALVARY
TO SAVE SOMEONE LIKE ME
I HEARD ABOUT
HIS GROANING,
OF HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD'S
ATONING
THEN I REPENTED
OF MY SIN
AND WON THE VICTORY
OH, VICTORY IN JESUS,
MY SAVIOUR FOREVER
HE SOUGHT ME
AND HE BOUGHT ME
WITH HIS REDEEMING BLOOD
HE LOVED ME
ERE I KNEW HIM
AND ALL MY LOVE
IS DUE HIM
HE PLUNGED ME TO VICTORY
BENEATH THE
CLEANSING FLOOD
I HEARD ABOUT HIS
HEALING,
OF HIS CLEANSING POW'R
REVEALING
HOW HE MADE THE LAME
TO WALK AGAIN
AND CAUSED THE
BLIND TO SEE
AND THEN I CRIED
"DEAR JESUS,
COME AND HEAL
MY BROKEN SPIRIT"
AND SOMEHOW JESUS
CAME AND BROUGHT
TO ME THE VICTORY
OH, VICTORY IN JESUS,
MY SAVIOUR FOREVER
A fond farewell
The Panama City (Fla.) News-Herald
May 25, 2006
By Faith Ford
Staff Writer
CONTACT:News Herald Writer 522-5114 / fford@pcnh.com
Si Mathison’s
personal records show he presided over 1,659 funerals during his career
as a Methodist minister.
At his own funeral Wednesday afternoon, Mathison drew the same crowds that he was known to attract during his years behind the pulpit. The First United Methodist Church, where Mathison served for 16 years, was packed with business and government leaders, fellow ministers and community members who recalled Mathison’s touch at weddings, baptisms and other local events.
Mathison, 96, may be best remembered in the community for his work with Bay Medical Center. He served as chaplain there for 29 years, so long that the hospital’s chapel was named after him. Pink-shirted members of the Hospital Auxiliary sat at the front of the church Wednesday.
“The first word that comes to my mind is icon,” said hospital CEO Steve Johnson. “He was everything to Bay Medical.”
Auxiliary member Frances Burgess said Mathison had a caring touch with patients.
“I loved him,” she said, as attendants filed out of the church. “He was a cornerstone for the community, really.”
Born in DeFuniak Springs on Jan. 3, 1910, Mathison was the son of a minister. He left a job working for the highway department to follow in his father’s footsteps in the 1930s. Mathison’s sons, George and John Ed, also followed in the family line. They pastor Methodist churches in Auburn and Montgomery, Ala., respectively. Both spoke during the service Wednesday.
“We tried for years to get my dad to move back to Alabama,” John Ed Mathison said during the service. “He said he had the sand of the beach in his shoes.”
Si Mathison was assigned to First United Methodist Church in Panama City in 1966. He spent 16 years there before his required “retirement” at age 70.
“He would not quit or give up,” the Rev. David Warren said during opening remarks Wednesday. “He did not understand the word retirement. It was not part of his vocabulary.”
From there, Mathison moved on to Laguna Beach where he preached at Gulfview United Methodist Church for more than a decade before a second retirement in 1995.
His last sermon was July 17, John Ed Mathison said.
“Last year at this time, he was preaching every Sunday,” he recalled.
With his mind still sharp, but his body failing, Si Mathison was moved to a rehabilitation center in Montgomery, Ala., in October. He had fallen and injured his hip and shoulder two months earlier.
The minister told The News Herald then that preaching was in his blood.
“My daddy was a pastor. That’s how I was brought up. I came from generations of preachers,” Si Mathison said. “It’s an opportunity to reach people and the best way to bring them to know the Lord.”
During his first year preaching at a small rural church, Si Mathison drew 54 new members, John Ed Mathison said, citing data from his father’s meticulous records.
“That was indicative of his life in the ministry,” he said.
John Robbins said he met Si Mathison at a United Way function 25 or 30 years ago and worked alongside him with The Salvation Army, one of the minister’s passions. Robbins described Si Mathison as warm and humorous and said his prayers were upbeat.
“I said for years if somebody had recorded all his prayers, it would be a best-seller,” Robbins said.
Known as “Brother Si,” Si Mathison’s given name was Marion Clyde. The name “Si” came from his brother, who could not say his original name, Warren explained during the funeral service.
Si
Mathison lived a life
that orbited people in need
The Panama City (Fla.) News-Herald
May 22, 2006
By Andy Meinen
Staff Writer
CONTACT:News Herald Writer 747-5089 / ameinen@pcnh.com
The Methodist minister was a
fixture of faith in the Panama City community, always ready to lend a
hand to wayward souls looking for the word of God, said friends and
family on Sunday as they mourned his passing.that orbited people in need
The Panama City (Fla.) News-Herald
May 22, 2006
By Andy Meinen
Staff Writer
CONTACT:News Herald Writer 747-5089 / ameinen@pcnh.com
Mathison, 96, died in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday.
“He was much more then just a pastor. He was totally committed to helping anyone, anywhere, anytime,” said Joe Chapman, a local businessman who spent 12 years on Bay Medical Center’s board of directors
Mathison was the chaplain at Bay Medical for 29 years.
“I can remember coming into Bay Medical Center in the morning and people would tell me he had been there since 2 a.m. helping people,” Chapman said. “He would come in on his own time late at night looking to see if anyone needed to talk.”
Pattie Woodham, a friend of Mathison’s for more than 20 years, also remembered his time at Bay Medical fondly.
“He went from room to room to room. He wasn’t visiting his people, he was visiting all the people,” Woodham said.
Mathison made Panama City his home in 1966 and was the minister of the First Methodist Church until 1980. After a brief retirement, Mathison spent the next 14 years as the minister for Gulfview Methodist in Laguna Beach, Woodham said.
The minister left for Montgomery to continue rehabilitation after a fall in August 2005, said Rick Dye, president of AmSouth Bank and a friend of Mathison’s for the past four years.
His guiding hand was felt in nearly every club or group in Panama City, she said. Whether it was the Rotary Club or The Salvation Army, Mathison would be there, Woodham said.
Mathison was tapped regularly to bless meetings and social activities, said M.G. “Bubber” Nelson, a friend of Mathison.
“He was always called on to give a blessing, whether it was politics or football or anything else. If there was any gathering he was there to give a blessing,” Nelson said.
Nelson, 92, who knew Mathison for more than 30 years, said the world would be a better place if more people were like the minister.
“We need a bunch of people like him all over the place,” Nelson said. “When you need someone to talk to, he was the person to talk to. He was an inspiration to all of mankind, young and old.”
John Robbins, who served with the minister on The Salvation Army’s board of directors, said Mathison’s prayers made you feel good just listening to them.
“He was loved and respected by everyone because he loved and respected everyone, regardless of your color or religious affiliation,” Robbins, 60, said.
When “Brother Si,” as friends referred to Mathison, was not comforting those in need he had opponents chasing a tennis ball around the court.
“He was a great tennis player. He played competitively until his 70s and played recreationally until his 80s,” Woodham said. “He was even ranked No. 1 in Florida by a state association. He could move a whole lot faster than I could.”
Brother Si’s spirit didn’t stop on the tennis court; he also pushed the boundaries of his ministry, Woodham said.
“He was very progressive,” she said. “He was the first person in Northwest Florida to have church services put on radio and on TV. If he lived on little longer he would have been on the Internet.”
A funeral service for Mathison will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at First Methodist in Panama City.
Auburn
United Methodist Church revival, March 9, 2005
"Brother Si" Mathison and Dean
Jim Foy lead the singing of "Wings of an Eagle"
"Brother Si" Mathison
Montgomery Advertiser
May 23. 2006
MATHISON,
"Brother Si", 96, died Saturday, May 20, 2006, after a brief illness. A
Celebration of Life Service will be held on Tuesday, May 23, 2006, at 2
PM, from Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church. Brother Si will lie
in state from 12 Noon until service time. Interment will be in Panama
City, Florida, on Wednesday, May 24, 2006, following another 2 PM
Celebration of Life Service at the First United Methodist Church of
Panama City. He is survived by two sons, Dr. John Ed Mathison (Lynn) of
Montgomery, and Dr. George Mathison (Monteigne) of Auburn; three
grandchildren, Si Mathison (Suzanne) and Vicki Mathison Parma (Scott)
of Montgomery, and Mallory Spear Mathison of Atlanta; and nine great
grandchildren. Brother Si attended Auburn University, the Candler
School of Theology, and graduated from Huntingdon College with a
Doctorate in Divinity. He was a member of the Panama City Kiwanis Club,
the Salvation Army, and was Chaplain of Bay Medical Center. During his
years of ministry, he served churches in Elizabeth Chapel in Pensacola,
FL, Loxley, Notasulga, Wetumpka, Opelika, AL, Panama City and Gulfview,
FL, and served as District Superintendent in Pensacola, FL. In lieu of
flowers, donations may be made to the Methodist Home for the Aging, the
Salvation Army, or Huntingdon College. Alabama Heritage Directing
“Brother Si” Mathison, 96, died Saturday, May 20, 2006, after a brief illness. Brother Si attended Auburn University, the Candler School of Theology, and graduated from Huntingdon College with a doctorate in divinity. He was a member of the Panama City Kiwanis Club, the Salvation Army, and chaplain of Bay Medical Center. During his years of ministry, he served churches in Elizabeth Chapel, Pensacola, Fla., and Loxley, Notasulga, Wetumpka, and Opelika, Ala., Panama City, Fla., and Gulfview, Fla. He also served as district superintendent in Pensacola. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 2 p.m. today, Tuesday, May 23, 2006, at Frazier Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Ala. Brother Si will lie in state from noon until service time today. He is survived by two sons, Dr. John Ed Mathison (Lynn) of Montgomery, and Dr. George Mathison (Monteigne) of Auburn; five grandchildren, Si Mathison (Suzanne) and Vicki Mathison Parma (Scott) of Montgomery, Mallory Spear Mathison of Atlanta, and Lauren Hixon (Eddie) and Clay Aaron (Ashley), both of Montgomery; and nine great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Spear Mathison. A Celebration of Life Services will be held 2 p.m., Wednesday, May 24, 2006, at the First United Methodist Church of Panama City with Dr. John Ed Mathison and Dr. George Mathison officiating. Interment will follow at Evergreen Memorial Gardens. Members, past and present, of the Bay Medical Auxiliary will serve as honorary pallbearers. The family will receive friends at the church on Wednesday, May 24, 2006, from noon until service time. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Methodist Home for the Aging, Corporate Offices, 1520 Cooper Hill Road, Birmingham, AL 35210, the Salvation Army National Headquarters, P.O. Box 269, Alexandria, VA 22313, or Huntingdon College, 1500 E. Fairview Ave., Montgomery, AL 36106.
Kent-Forest Lawn
Funeral Home
Panama City, Fla. 32405
2403 Harrison Ave. 763-4694
"Brother Si" Mathison
The (Panama City) News-Herald
May 23, 2006
The (Panama City) News-Herald
May 23, 2006
“Brother Si” Mathison, 96, died Saturday, May 20, 2006, after a brief illness. Brother Si attended Auburn University, the Candler School of Theology, and graduated from Huntingdon College with a doctorate in divinity. He was a member of the Panama City Kiwanis Club, the Salvation Army, and chaplain of Bay Medical Center. During his years of ministry, he served churches in Elizabeth Chapel, Pensacola, Fla., and Loxley, Notasulga, Wetumpka, and Opelika, Ala., Panama City, Fla., and Gulfview, Fla. He also served as district superintendent in Pensacola. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 2 p.m. today, Tuesday, May 23, 2006, at Frazier Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Ala. Brother Si will lie in state from noon until service time today. He is survived by two sons, Dr. John Ed Mathison (Lynn) of Montgomery, and Dr. George Mathison (Monteigne) of Auburn; five grandchildren, Si Mathison (Suzanne) and Vicki Mathison Parma (Scott) of Montgomery, Mallory Spear Mathison of Atlanta, and Lauren Hixon (Eddie) and Clay Aaron (Ashley), both of Montgomery; and nine great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Spear Mathison. A Celebration of Life Services will be held 2 p.m., Wednesday, May 24, 2006, at the First United Methodist Church of Panama City with Dr. John Ed Mathison and Dr. George Mathison officiating. Interment will follow at Evergreen Memorial Gardens. Members, past and present, of the Bay Medical Auxiliary will serve as honorary pallbearers. The family will receive friends at the church on Wednesday, May 24, 2006, from noon until service time. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Methodist Home for the Aging, Corporate Offices, 1520 Cooper Hill Road, Birmingham, AL 35210, the Salvation Army National Headquarters, P.O. Box 269, Alexandria, VA 22313, or Huntingdon College, 1500 E. Fairview Ave., Montgomery, AL 36106.
Kent-Forest Lawn
Funeral Home
Panama City, Fla. 32405
2403 Harrison Ave. 763-4694
Commentary by Walter Albritton
February 19, 2006
Godly Mentors Help Us Develop Our God-given Uniqueness
2 Timothy, Chapters 3 and 4
Key Verse: But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it. – 2 Timothy 3:14
A mentor is defined as a wise and trusted counselor or teacher. But though teachers may be wise, they are not all accepted as mentors. The key word is “trusted.” Effective mentoring occurs when the student admires the mentor and embraces the wise counseling that is offered.
All of us learn, to one degree or another, from our teachers. As Christians most of us have been blessed by the mentoring of a few special people who modeled the faith for us, inspiring us to embrace it as our own.
From infancy I was exposed to the faith by devout Christian parents. They took me to the same church for the first 13 years of my life. I was taught by several teachers and pastors but none of them became a mentor for me. Even their names are forgotten since none of them became a pivotal force in my life. While they each contributed to my spiritual growth, none made a striking difference.
Then I met Brother Si Mathison. He made Christianity attractive to me. I admired him so much that I persuaded my entire family to transfer our membership to the church Brother Si served as pastor, First United Methodist Church in Wetumpka.
Looking back, I realize that I embraced Brother Si as a mentor because I admired him and his approach to the faith. But there was more. I came to “trust” him only because he took a personal interest in me. Over time he became the most important Christian influence in my life. He was the role model God used to fuel in me the desire to become a minister of the gospel.
His influence continues into my 74th year. The other day I visited with him at Wesley Gardens in Montgomery. We talked and prayed together. I thanked him for his prayers for he has prayed for me daily more than any other person other than my wife Dean.
Now 96, Brother Si remains my beloved spiritual father. His two sons, John Ed and George, are like brothers to me. Brother Si has been to me like Paul was to Timothy, a wise and trusted counselor, teacher, and friend.
Imagine being mentored in the faith by the Apostle Paul! Such was the good fortune of young Timothy. Tutored early on by his mother and grandmother, Timothy was well prepared for Paul to take him to higher levels of discipleship. His good mind was fertile ground in which the brilliant apostle could plant the truths of the Gospel.
Paul taught Timothy to appreciate the guidance his family gave him. And he taught him to trust the counsel of the Holy Scriptures. That was most important since Timothy’s culture, like our own, did not value the authority of the Bible. When we believe the Scriptures are inspired by God, the Holy Spirit then mentors us as we feed on and inwardly digest the precious Word of God.
E. Stanley Jones was a mentor to me through his writing, preaching, and a few conversations. He taught me to trust the living Christ as the chief Mentor of my heart. Jones spoke often of “the Inner Voice.” Clearly this was his way of describing the guidance he received constantly from the Holy Spirit or the One Paul sometimes spoke of as the living Christ.
As we mature in the faith, we discover the joy of trusting the Spirit to guide, guard, teach, reprove, correct, and train us by way of “the Inner Voice.” He often calls to mind lessons we learned from our study of the Scriptures. We learn that we never go wrong by following the mentoring guidance of his “Inner Voice.”
The concept of mentoring can be expanded to include persons we know only through their writings. Elton Trueblood, another precious mentor of mine, taught me to think of persons like Martin Luther, John Wesley, Thomas a Kempis, and others as mentors and friends. Indeed I learned so much from allowing them to counsel and instruct me through the books they had written.
This being true, we can think of Paul as not only Timothy’s mentor but our own as well. As we read his wise counsel in the Bible, we can give thanks that he has taught us the importance of remaining faithful to Christ in spite of persecution and trials.
We can celebrate the role model he was for us when he was mistreated by others or when misfortune made his life miserable. We can rejoice that he has taught us not to give up under the pressures of life but to hold on so that one day we can say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Let us give thanks with all our hearts for those who have been our mentors and role models, whether the difference they made was small or great. And let us ask the living Christ to give us the grace to live out our lives so that at least one person, following in our footsteps, may find us to have been a worthy mentor and role model.
+ + + (Contact Walter at walbritton@elmore.rr.com)
A great friend
The Panama City (Fla.) News-Herald
May 24, 2006
Tommy Thomas introduced me to Brother Si Mathison in 1971. We became fast and great friends. Over the years, we were always there for each other when the other needed.
I respected Brother Si for his dedication to our community, for helping those who were in need and for being a great friend. He respected me for my Air Force career, my sales position at Tommy Thomas Chevrolet that I have held for 36 years now and also for being a great friend.
Brother Si was an integral part in many special days with my family. He performed the recommitment ceremony for my wife, Joyce, of 48 years and me as well as the marriages of two of my daughters.
I was there with Brother Si for many of his special days as well. In 1994, I had the pleasure of delivering a new Chevrolet Caprice that Tommy Thomas had donated to his church on the Beach the day it was dedicated. I was also there the day his retirement center was dedicated. He was so proud on those days, but not as proud as he was about his two sons who I have had the pleasure of meeting.
There is much more that I could say about my friend Brother Si, but I will sum it up with this: He was a kind man, he had the respect of many and was loved very much. He will be greatly missed by us all.
Tom Dellatore, Panama City, Fla.
The Panama
City News-Herald
Saturday, October 1, 2005
2005
Bay pastor heads for Alabama
Si Mathison moving to be closer to family
By Valerie Lovett
News Herald Writer 747-5078 / vlovett@pcnh.com
PANAMA CITY
Still spry of spirit after 95 years, Brother Si Mathison bid farewell to Bay County on Friday morning.
Though his mind is clearly intact, it is his body that is not holding up as it once did, requiring that the longtime pastor and community icon relocate to a rehabilitation center in Montgomery, Ala.
Mathison was all smiles as he readied for the trip, warmly accepting well wishes from a bevy of area pastors and friends.
After falling and injuring his hip and shoulder about two months ago, Mathison has been in a local recuperation facility.
He will be closer to his sons, John Ed and George Mathison, who pastor Methodist churches in Montgomery and Auburn, respectively.
His family history in Bay County and Northwest Florida is long and rich.
Mathison was born in DeFuniak Springs to a father who preached throughout the South, and he later followed in his father’s footsteps, entering the ministry in the 1930s.
He spread the gospel from pulpits throughout the South before arriving in Panama City in 1966 at the First United Methodist Church. After 16 years there, he retired, but not for long. Gulfview Methodist Church, not far from closing its doors, needed Mathison’s help. He preached there for more than a decade, retiring again in 1995. Mathison said preaching is in his blood and his faith comes from his raising. “My daddy was a pastor. That’s how I was brought up. I came from generations of preachers,” Mathison said. “It’s an opportunity to reach people and the best way to bring them to know the Lord.”
Rick Dye, president of AmSouth Bank, was on hand to see Mathison off.
Dye said he only has known Mathison for three years, but Mathison has served as a great role model during that time.
“He is a man totally dedicated to other people and who has committed his life to helping others,” Dye said. “He is a man who evidenced in his life, on a daily basis, what the scriptures teach us to do.”
Up until his fall, Dye said, Mathison visited the ill and attended prayer meetings regularly — and he will be back to it before long.
“This isn’t some feeble old man who’s going off to die,” Dye said. “He needs time to rehabilitate, and I think we’re all looking forward to when he’ll preach his next sermon.”
Get-well wishes may be sent to Mathison at Wesley Gardens, 155 Taylor Road, Montgomery, AL 36117 or e-mail brothersi@hotmail.com.
Ed Williams