The Calling of Dan Matthews was published by the Book Supply Company in 1909, a sequel to The Shepherd of the Hills that follows the next generation. Dan Matthews — son of Young Matt and grandson of the Shepherd — leaves the Ozark hills to enter the ministry in a small Midwestern city, where he discovers that the church as an institution bears little resemblance to the Christianity he learned in the hills.
The novel is Wright’s most explicit attack on organized religion — surprising from a former minister, but consistent with his belief that institutional Christianity had betrayed its founder’s message. Dan encounters a church governed by social ambition, petty politics, and financial calculation rather than by faith, charity, or genuine spiritual concern. His attempts to practice what Christ preached — to serve the poor, to challenge the comfortable, to speak truth regardless of consequences — bring him into conflict with his congregation and his denomination.
Wright’s argument is not anti-Christian but anti-church: he distinguishes sharply between the message of Christ (radical, demanding, socially disruptive) and the institution that claims to represent it (conservative, comfortable, socially conformist). Dan’s resolution — to leave the ministry and live his faith through practical work rather than institutional religion — reflects Wright’s own journey from pulpit to pen.
Collecting The Calling of Dan Matthews
First edition (Book Supply Company, Chicago, 1909): Cloth binding.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $50–$150
- Without jacket: $10–$25