Helene Zacharias’s sweatshirt sums up her life credo: “With God all things are possible” is the logo on a favorite sweatshirt worn by 88-year-old Zacharias as she volunteered April 1 at her beloved church in Sewickley.

She’s at St. Matthews A.M.E. Zion Church most days and walks there from her home just two blocks away.

“My parents were Baptist and my grandfather was a preacher and you had to be in church. My faith was always important to me,” Zacharias said. “I was raised in a church all my life.”

Zacharias has volunteered at St. Matthews for 52 years and is there most days.

“Everybody knows me as Ms. Z,” she said.

Zacharias serves as chairman of the church trustee board and has volunteered in myriad roles.

Previous posts include Sunday school teacher and volunteering in the Progressive Club, Missionary Society, remodeling committee, anniversary committee, choir, home mission board lay council and serving as a worship leader.

“I like the fact that we try to be a community church,” she said, noting the recent annual Pancake Breakfast hosted by the church. “We do that as an outreach and we give away food — come here and eat as much as you want.”

Courtesy of Helene Zacharias Sewickley resident Helene Zacharias pictured in a 1997 St. Matthews A.M.E. Zion Church bulletin.  

Church member and fellow trustee volunteer Mark Foster of Avalon has known Zacharias for more than a decade.

“You can’t put a value on the impact Ma Zach has had on this church. She leads by example. She takes her time to make sure that I understand what needs to be done here in the church,” Foster said. “She’s helped me to grow my faith from a service standpoint.”

Foster described Zacharias as one-of-a-kind.

“She’s in charge. She delegates and she’s gonna tell you how to do it and she’s a wealth of knowledge,” Foster said.

Zacharias loves to socialize and pitch in wherever needed.

“I run into people everywhere I go in town,” Zacharias said.

Volunteering is a constant for her.

“It keeps me busy and it makes me stay in my range of being a Christian and I am trying to do what God wants me to do,” Zacharias said. “I’ve done a lot here but it’s been a blessing in more than one way.”

She grew up in Asbury Park, N.J., and relocated to Sewickley when her late husband Fred Zacharias’s job as a sanitizer for Heinz required a move.

The couple raised five adult children.

Fred died 20 years ago and was an active member of St. Matthews.

“I look forward to coming to church. That’s a big day in my life,” Zacharias said.

St. Matthews was the first African-American congregation in Sewickley when the late Rev. Daniel B. Matthews established a mission with six members in April 1857.

The first services were held in a log cabin on Centennial Avenue near Broad Street and the current brick church on Thorn Street is designated a Historic Landmark by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.

The current congregation has 47 members.

“We’re small but mighty and people understand us,” Zacharias said.

Joyce Hanz | TribLive Joyce Hanz | TRIBLIVE St. Matthews A.M.E. Zion Church member and volunteer Helene Zacharias of Sewickley.  

Dan Golden serves with Zacharias on the board of trustees.

“We’re the ones who clean the bathrooms, sweep the floors and whatever needs to be done around here,” Golden said. “We’re the backbone of the church.”

Trustee member Henry Scales moved to Sewickley in 1976 and recalled the day he joined the church.

“I heard her (Zacharias) voice in the back say “Praise Jesus” and I’ve been here ever since,” Scales said. “Basically, she is the church.”

Doing crossword puzzles keeps Zacharias mentally sharp and she enjoys dining on fried catfish and chicken at Cracker Barrel and watching football: “I don’t root for Pittsburgh. I root for the Baltimore Ravens,” she said.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---