Reaching Out in Love
As members of Saint Matthew's, we gather together for worship, fellowship, and spiritual formation, but it is never meant to stop there. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to be a people who are always reaching out in love to the world around us. At the end of every service of Holy Eucharist we are reminded that we are called to take our faith beyond the doors of the church: "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord".
We live this out in some remarkable ways at Saint Matthew's, including the following:
We live this out in some remarkable ways at Saint Matthew's, including the following:
- Thrift Shop: In addition to providing a wonderful bargain-shopping resource for the Jamestown community and beyond, our Thrift Shop does some tremendous, often unseen, outreach. They donate many overflow items (clothing, etc.) to individuals and area charitable organizations that need them. To learn more about our Thrift Shop and how you might support it, please contact Thrift Shop Director, Sue Fay (401-423-3027).
- Epiphany Meal Site: Six times per year, members of Saint Matthew's serve at the Epiphany Meal Site at Saint Stephen's Church in Providence, providing a hearty meal for those who are hungry. We provide, prepare and serve the food to those who come. To learn more about this outreach ministry and how you might support it, please contact John Williamson (401-423-0293).
- Jonnycake Center: The Jonnycake Center in Peacedale has a large and busy Food Pantry for those who need assistance with putting food on their tables. At Saint Matthew's we collect food donations for the Jonnycake Center. Members are invited to place donations of non-perishable food items in the basket in the back of the church every Sunday. These donations are delivered to the Jonnycake Center on a regular basis. To learn more about this outreach ministry and how you might support it, please contact John Williamson (401-423-0293).
- Saint Matthew's Giving Tree: Every year at Christmas time, we have our Sunday School sponsors the Saint Matthew's Giving Tree. Through Child & Family of Newport, we adopt several area families and purchase Christmas gifts for them. Parishioners are invited to take a tag or tags from the Giving Tree and purchase the gifts on the tags. All these gifts are collected and delivered to Child & Family.
- Episcopal Charities of Rhode Island: Every year members of Saint Matthew's contribute towards Episcopal Charities, which provides grants to over 70 social service agencies each year.
- Episcopal Relief & Development: Saint Matthew's gives on-going support to Episcopal Relief & Development, which works with Church partners and other local organizations to save lives and transform communities throughout the world, working in nearly 40 different countries. All of our Birthday Blessing donations go to ERD. We also collect additional offerings throughout the year.
