10 Questions with...Eric Mattson

By: Dave Faries, Editor
Posted 12/28/20

If you happen to attend Mexico High School sporting events, or if you play on one of its teams, you have seen Eric Mattson.

 

He roams the sidelines, camera in hand, shooting some …

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10 Questions with...Eric Mattson

Posted

If you happen to attend Mexico High School sporting events, or if you play on one of its teams, you have seen Eric Mattson.

 

He roams the sidelines, camera in hand, shooting some pretty amazing pictures. But Mattson is not working. He does this in his spare time, giving the photographs to parents and kids – and to The Ledger for use in our sports pages.

 

The rest of his time, Mattson serves as pastor for the Mexico United Methodist Church. It’s a position he’s held since the summer of 2017 after leading congregations in New Madrid and Hannibal. One could say he is following a family tradition. “I was a preacher’s kid,” Mattson explained. But the pulpit was not Mattson’s first post. He spent 16 years as a banker before attending seminary school.

 

1. What does a pastor’s work week look like?

 

My average work week is about 60 hours and every week is different. I can’t call it counseling because I’m not a trained counselor, but you talk to people. You make hospital visits. There’s planning, personnel, finance – you name it.

 

2. Is the day after Christmas a day of rest for you?

 

What day of the week is that going to be? I have a bad habit of working on my days of rest. And Christmas is just the start of the 12 days of Christmas.

 

3. Which season is busier, Christmas or Easter?

 

It’s hard to pick. They’re both busy, but probably Easter. Easter is the most important day.

 

4. Are ministers allowed to have favorite Bible passages?

 

Yes – I have two. From the Old Testament it’s Micah 6:8. From the New Testament it’s Phillippians 4:8.

 

5. Why those?

 

If you read them, you’ll understand. Those are my life verses. The passage from the Old Testament is what God wants from us. The one from the New Testament is my paradigm for thinking.

 

6. Did you manage to get through the part of the Bible with that long list of who begat who?

 

I’ve read the entire Bible. More than once.

 

7. How difficult is it to write a sermon?

 

Some days it almost writes itself. Other days it’s like giving birth.

 

8. Why take up photography?

 

Do you have a couple of hours? The short answer is I feel most alive when I’m creating. I’ve been into photography since the early ‘70s. Before that I was an artist.

 

9. Why shoot high school sports?

 

Well, I can’t do everything, so I focus on high school. But as it is I can barely cover that. It’s a ministry – a ministry of presence. And is a way for me to give back to the community. When you live somewhere you should always try to make it a better place.

 

10. You’re a minister. You’ve been a banker. Is there another career you’d like to try?

 

My hero is Jethro Bodine [the Beverly Hillbillies character], so I either want to be an ought-ought spy [007] or a brain surgeon [laughs]. But outside of my career, art is my passion. I’ll probably be wandering the streets when I’m 90 shooting pictures of the sides of buildings.


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