You are invited to join us for these upcoming events and to participate in these ongoing ministries..
Church News & Announcements
Update from Food Box Program
Next 7:30 am distribution dates:
May 27, June 10, 24
St. Matthew is proud to serve families who are in need of food assistance by giving out non-perishable food boxes from 7:30 a.m. every other Saturday. Each box is given on a first come, first serve basis and feeds a family of four for 3-4 days. Most of the food is picked up from the Midwest Food Bank through a partnership with them.
We have all felt the effects of our current inflation. Unfortunately it has also impacted the donations we receive for the food box program and we have some empty shelves that could use your help. How can you help: Canned vegetables or fruit, canned tuna or chicken, and small jars of peanut butter. Midwest food bank rarely provides us with these items. They can be dropped off at church in the shopping cart in front of the church, or between 5-6pm on the first and third Wednesdays of the month in the East side pull through. Please help if you can, one or two of the listed items per person will make an impact. If you would like additional information please contact Steve Childs, Virginia Hughes or Rosemary Glithero."
Join the Food Box Crew
The Food Box crew could use a couple of volunteers to join our team on Thursday mornings every other week. We could use one or two people to help pack the food boxes from 8:00-10:30, and/or someone with a truck to pick up our order from the Midwest Food Bank at 8:20 and deliver it to St. Matthew.
If interested, please contact Virginia Hughes at hugvirginia@gmail.com. We’d love to have you be a part of our team!
Thanks again for your continued support of this important mission.
Steve Childs
Food Box Coordinator
Sunday Funday
EVERY Sunday, 10:15 - 11:15 AM is Sunday Funday.
Join us for this engaging intergenerational Sunday School experience. All are welcome!
SPECIAL CALL - SUMMER MUSIC NEEDS
Now is the perfect time to let your voice and praise be heard. We are looking for summer music specials to fill the service during our summer months.
If you might not want to do a solo or special music on your own, try singing with our summer choir! It is a wonderful time. Summer choir meets only on Sunday morning and sings in service following a brief warm up and rehearsal of the anthem that will be sung. The summer choir sings on the first Sunday of each month.
Please take a moment to fill out the form to indicate how you would like to participate.
A couple notable Sundays the choir is singing this summer are June 11th which is Pastor Brooke's final service and July 2nd when our new pastor, Rev. Joel Bullock, will begin.
Please contact ben@stmatthewmesa.org with any questions you might have.
St. Matthew Mission Project
What? Upcoming Mission Project: A new socks and new underwear collection drive to benefit Helen's Hope Chest. Helen's Hope Chest is a non profit which provides clothing and necessities free of charge to children ages birth to 18 in the foster care system throughout Arizona. This organization has long been supported by St. Matthew United Methodist Church, and your Missions Committee hope we can count on your contributions now!
When? From May 1-31, 2023 the Missions Committee is asking for your help to provide new socks and new underwear for the children served by Helen's Hope Chest. Their most needed items are Adult Men's socks, Adult Men's boxer briefs and/or Walmart gift cards in any dollar amount. This particular need exists because sometimes teenage boys in the foster care system are easy to overlook (and because it can be "more fun" to buy cute little-kid items... but HHC currently has as many of those as they have storage space for.) Gift cards are used by Helen's Hope Chest managers to shop for items in sizes needed, or as need arises. Although we are not promoting one retailer over another, HHC management particularly mentioned Walmart gift cards because this is where they can most economically purchase items needed but not donated.
How? Please bring donations to bins located in the Sanctuary Narthex, or to the church office during office hours (clearly marked for Helen's Hope Chest). Gift cards can be handed to Cheriden in the church office, or to one of the Mission Project members (Carol Childs or Virginia Hughes) on Sunday mornings.
Would you like more information about this Mission Project? Please contact Carol Childs (cchilds2_2003@yahoo.com) or Virginia Hughes (hugvirginia@gmail.com). Thank you in advance for your participation!
2023 Annual Conference Mission Projects
Although today’s news (in all media forms) is gloomy, 2023 Annual Conference Mission Projects are striving to bring ACTION to a world in desperate need of positive news and support.
- War in Ukraine-- UMC continues its ministry in this war-torn part of the world by offering food, clothing, shelter, schooling, and emigration to less affected regions.
- RIP Medical Debt Relief-- Rev. Jen Lambert of Red Mountain UMC is involved with the growing struggle for families to pay for medical needs. This Relief project assists families to return to financial health after incurring medical debt arising through both routine medical visits and major health concerns. A leading cause of 2 out of 3 bankruptcies is medical debt and a small $10 donation can purchase $1,000 in economic relief to those in bankruptcy due to medical bills.
- Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief-- This region has been devastated by 2 earthquakes since February with thousands of lives lost and near total devastation. UMCOR provides financial assistance and sends volunteers from all over the world to help restore these countries stone by stone.
Our contributions and prayers to these ongoing concerns help PEOPLE rebuild their lives by replacing despair with HOPE. You can designate giving through your local church through June 4 to any or all of these efforts.
Summer Camp
Old Mingus favs include Elementary Camp, Jr. High Camp, and Night Owls, new opportunities include a special 2-night camp for grandparents and their grandchildren in July, and a super fun Adventure Camp for Sr. High campers (details are forthcoming). A revised and tweaked Arts Camp is sure to be a ton of creative fun. Info and registration here:
Racial Justice Library
The Racial Justice committee has installed a small library in the cabinet in the chapel (sanctuary). We have included publications that we thought would interest our congregation:
- Several excellent publications from the Southern Poverty Law Center
- Book: River of Fire by Sister Helen Prejean
- Book: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- DVD: Just Mercy (2019)
- DVD: Slavery by Another Name (PBS – 2011)
Please stop in to see if there is material you’d like to check out!
Just sign your name, publication title and phone number on the form next to the publications.
Celebrating Black History Month
The Racial Justice committee has added a few items to our Racial Justice library, located in the chapel in the sanctuary. The items include:
- Southern Poverty Law Center's 2023 calendar, "Vision for a Just Future" which notes events as interest to those who are interested in racial justice topics
- A copy of Learning for Justice magazine
- SPLC's publications "The Year in Hate" and "Hate and Extremism in 2022"
Why not go to the chapel and check out all the offerings in honor of Black History Month? They are in the large cabinet, behind the glass doors.
Men's Bible Study
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Capital Campaign Committee Update
Thank you to everyone who has continued to generously support our 3-year campaign. We have received donations more quickly in the first 18 months of the campaign than we originally anticipated based on pledged commitments. As of the end of September, we have already received 78% of the $365,000 we estimated would be needed to complete the 7 projects.
We have completed 4 projects: replaced the Sanctuary and Youth room air conditioning units, replaced the shingle roofing on the Sanctuary and Music buildings, slurry-sealed the parking lots, and replaced the organ at a total cost of $245,549. It has been wonderful to enjoy the cool air, know we have solid roofs overhead, leave our vehicles in nicely paved lots, and enjoy hearing the incredible sounds of the new organ.
The 3 remaining projects are to replace the Lutron lighting system in the Sanctuary, replace the outside electronic message board components, and to paint the exterior trim on the buildings. We estimate the cost of these 3 remaining projects at $90,000. Additionally, the asphalt company that slurry-sealed our parking lots recommends that we seal the parking lots in 12-18 months to substantially extend their life. We are hopeful that we will have sufficient remaining monies to also seal the parking lots.
Currently, we have $41,380 on hand in the Capital Campaign Account and we know that generous donations are still being received each week. We will plan for the remaining projects as donations are received over the next 18 months.
Donations may be made electronically to the Capital Campaign through our Website or by check. Remember to note Capital Campaign in the memo line of checks. If you have questions about your donations or amounts pledged to the capital campaign, please contact the church office or send an email to rstmatthew@gmail.com. If you would like to revise your pledge, you may click below to access the fillable capital campaign pledge form.