Mary Matz

Mary Matz (August 10, 1931 – July 31, 2013) was an American theologian who became the first woman ordained by the Moravian Church in North America. She was also a vice president of the Moravian National Council of Churches.

Biography Mary Jane Dill was born on August 10, 1931, in Havertown, Pennsylvania to Olive (née Wise) and Charles Dill. Dill was raised in the Lutheran church and after completing her basic schooling in Havertown, she attained a bachelor's degree from Grove City College in Pennsylvania in 1953. Upon completion of her degree, Dill moved to Athens, Ohio, where she became the Director of Christian Education of the First Presbyterian Church. Two years later, on January 8, 1955, she married William W. Matz who was a Moravian pastor.

Matz earned her doctorate in Ministry from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey in 1982. That same year she published Ministry together: A manual for shared ministry training, a book about pastors and laity working together. To further that goal, she co-founded the Lehigh Valley Lay Academy, a series of spiritual developmental classes for the ministry and laymen. She published a second book in 1990 entitled Choices and values in a rapidly changing world, which focused on Bible study choices for the modern world. Matz held the position of interim pastor with the Lancaster Moravian Church and in the 1990s, shared the interim pastorate in Bethlehem of East Hills Moravian Church with her husband. She was a vice president of the Moravian National Council of Churches and in 1995 was honored with the John Hus Award for outstanding alumni from the Moravian Theological Seminary.

Matz died on July 31, 2013, at the Moravian Village, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

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