On April 21, 2024 following the 11am worship service, we will be hosting a Lunch & Learn: Safe Sanctuary at St. Matthew’s. This will be a time to learn about the Safe Sanctuary program, share best practices, and learn more about how you can be involved in helping to provide a safe environment for all who gather within our banner of ministry at St. Matthew’s.
Vaction Bible School and God's Great Love
It’s Monday morning at 8:00am and you arrive at an empty church. As you walk around to begin turning on lights, AC, and AV equipment, put blankets outside on the fresh cut lawn, and prepare for what is the culmination of 8 months of prayer, preparation, and planning. Soon the halls will be filled with laughter, singing, and running feet of children who for four days are in the care of our volunteers as they experience God’s great love. It’s loud. It’s exhausting. It’s controlled chaos.
It’s the most amazing week of the year.
LifeWay reports that 2.5 million children every summer participate in Vacation Bible School. That is 2.5 million reasons why we do what we do every summer. That’s thousands of families who are entrusting the church to pour God’s love into their lives in fun, engaging, engaging ways. Did you know that the majority of VBS families that St. Matthew’s teaches every year come from the community? We have youth volunteers who grew up coming to VBS at St. Matthew’s and excitedly volunteer their time each summer to give back.
One of the reasons that I have always loved directing VBS is the opportunity to create an immersive experience for kids to have a few hours outside of the ordinary. I had many people this summer in the weeks leading up to Hero Hotline what in the world the batcave had to do with the Bible. My cheeky answer would be ‘Absolutely nothing’ but after a quick smile I would give the real answer. It’s about those 30-50 kids who will spend 12 hours in our care. It’s to see the wonder in their eyes when they walk into the sanctuary and see a superhero headquarters like a comic book. It’s seeing Betty Lou Wanderer spending a morning in the craft station as a real life superhero of faith and watching the next generation be inspired by the older generation. It’s the ability to be engaged in our neighborhood and community in a very special way.
The thesis statement for children’s ministry can be summed up from two verses in Matthew 19: “One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened: "Let the children alone, don't prevent them from coming to me. God's kingdom is made up of people like these. (Matthew 19:13-14 MSG). Jesus wants the little children to come. He was radical in his acceptance of marginalized groups. The kingdom of God is fully inclusive and expansive. It includes children and elders, rich and poor, healthy and sick, abled and disabled, quiet and loud. It’s messy, it’s controlled chaos, it’s exhausting…and it is the greatest family to be a part of. Seeds are planted. Roots are nurtured and tended. Lives are impacted and changed. In fact, close to 90% of American adults in 2018 report a positive memory of VBS as a child.
This year we welcomed 5 new VBS adult volunteers for their first full VBS experience. We challenged the families to help collect and fill 5 backpacks for our school supply drive benefiting Midtown. The families responded overwhelmingly and Pastor John was treated to a water balloon bath for their efforts. 3 youth volunteers from the community have expressed interest in participating with our youth group this fall. Countless seeds were planted and nurtured.
I sit here reflecting back on our 2023 VBS “Hero Hotline” and it feels like a blur. I am already dreaming about next year’s theme and devising plans for greater cooperation between ourselves and Paoli UMC (who are borrowing our decorations this summer) and the Early Learning Center. I know I do not have to sell the importance of VBS to our congregation. Every year our congregation steps up in new and overwhelmingly amazing ways to support this program. It is a cornerstone program of our ministry at St. Matthew’s and I am eternally grateful to be part of a church family that loves VBS.
Thank you. Thank you for your love for the children of our community. Thank you for your love for the families of our neighborhood. Thank you for your time, talents, generous donations, prayers, and support. The volunteers and I could truly not do what we do without the full support of the congregation. The impact of your generosity will cause ripples throughout the next generation because the community knows that St. Matthew’s is a safe place to encounter God’s love and grace in real and incredible ways. Thank you for allowing me to dream crazy dreams to bring wonder into the eyes of children and help them know that they are safe, loved, and wanted unconditionally.
There is so much ministry to happen between now and VBS 2024–but gear up, we’re going camping at Camp Firelight July 8-11, 2024. Even though our focus turns to fall and Back to School, remember to keep the families of VBS in your prayers—that the Holy Spirit would nurture those seeds planted in those precious lives and their families.
The Meaning Behind Living Up To the Rainbow
On June 11 at 9:30 am we will celebrate the third year of our “Living Up to the Rainbow” worship service. Each year in this special worship service we celebrate the diversity of God’s people and we affirm the sacred worth of all persons, not determined by their sexual orientation or gender identity, but by their identity in Christ. Through music and liturgy, we affirm the expansive love that God has for all persons and God’s call for us to do the same.
This service is marked with rainbows because the rainbow is a deeply significant symbol in the Bible. In Genesis, the rainbow represents the covenant of love God initiates with Noah after the flood:
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. (Genesis 9: 12-13).
St. Matthew's is a Safe Sanctuary Church
I Am: Journey with Jesus through Lent - 4/2
A Lenten Reflection - Key Events of Holy Week
Since Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent we have been journeying with Jesus and his disciples to Jerusalem for the events of Holy Week and Easter. The events of Holy Week recount the Passion Narratives in the Gospels that describe the suffering (passio in Latin), death and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week with Palm Sunday and with it our Lenten journey slows down and affords us a more detailed look at the last week of Jesus’ earthly life.
Here are the key events of Holy Week
I Am: Journey with Jesus through Lent - 3/26
A Lenten Reflection - Journaling
For as long as I can remember I have loved pens, pencils, notebooks and writing. While I didn’t always enjoy returning to school after summer break, I did enjoy shopping for new school supplies with my mom. Fresh notebooks, pens and pencils along with a new Trapper Keeper and pencil case often took away the sting of summer break ending and school starting.
I Am: Journey with Jesus through Lent - 3/19
A Lenten Reflection - Reading the Bible with your head and Heart
For as long as I can remember my faith has always been more cognitive in nature. According to my family, this began when I was a small child in Sunday school where I would ask countless questions about a biblical text and try to make connections to other scripture passages.
I Am: Journey with Jesus through Lent - 3/12
A Lenten Reflection – What are your motivations?
Lent is a season of reflection. It comes from an Old English word meaning “a lengthening.” As the days become longer and Spring approaches, nature begins to show renewed life, energy, and growth. The trees will begin to sprout green tinted leaves, warmer winds will blow, and the sky will lose its grayish cast and take on a rich blue tint.
During this season of Lent Christians are called upon to reflect together on the final weeks of Christ’s ministry. We remember his betrayal, arrest, and suffering upon the cross. Lent is a time for us to reflect as well upon our own discipleship. It is a time to examine our motivations for serving our Lord Jesus Christ. Like a scuba diver exploring the coral reef below, we, too, search below the surface and examine who we are and why we are here in God’s world.
I Am: Journey with Jesus through Lent - 3/5
A Lenten Reflection – What are you giving up for lent?
“What are you giving up for Lent?” is a frequently asked question during these forty days of preparation leading up to Easter. Some people give up chocolate. Some give up ice cream. Others give up caffeine. The language of “giving up” something is another way of saying that we are fasting from something. Fasting as a spiritual discipline has been around for thousands of years in Judaism and Christianity and is found across many of the world’s religions. It is voluntarily going without food — or any other regularly enjoyed, good gift from God — for the sake of some spiritual purpose. It is markedly counter-cultural in our materialistic, pleasure seeking society that tells us we should have as much as we want, whenever we want. Instead of indulging ourselves we deny ourselves so that we can direct our hearts and minds toward God.
I Am: Journey with Jesus through Lent - 2/26
A Lenten Reflection – Spiritual Disciplines
On Ash Wednesday, we entered the season of Lent in the Christian liturgical calendar. Lent is a season of self reflection as we examine our lives and our hearts in preparation for the celebration of Easter. It is a time when we can give up something to better focus our attention on God. We can also add something to our lives that will foster a deeper relationship with God. Giving up something is perhaps the most popular option as people give up all kinds of things for Lent. However, today I want to focus on adding something for Lent.
I Am: Journey with Jesus through Lent
Conversation with John Chaffee: Sunday, February 26 & Sunday, April 2, 2023
Please join us for an online conversation with writer, speaker and podcaster John Chaffee. John has devoted his life to helping people go further into their faith journey for themselves and with other like-minded people.
John will also be available to talk about the new Lenten devotion that he recently published – Echoes in the Desert: A Lenten Daily Devotional. which is available for purchase at Amazon. If you are looking for an in depth and meaningful study to do this Lent season with a fresh perspective and new voice, we encourage you to pick up a copy. Both Pastor John and Vica will be using this devotional during the season of Lent. If you would like to see a copy, one will be available at worship.
Haws Avenue Soup Kitchen Volunteers Hard at Work
Junteenth: An Important Holiday
This year, St. Matthew’s observes Juneteenth, a day honoring the end of slavery in the United States.
On that day in 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved people in Texas were free – more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. People enslaved in Union-held territory were not freed until the passage of the 13th Amendment several months later on December 18, 1865.
The events of the past few weeks have shown us that ending systemic racism is a goal we must continue to strive for in all sectors of society, including the church. As United Methodists, we are committed to that effort.