We’ve asked people to share how Saint Matthew’s has affected them personally. These are their stories.
My Journey at Saint Matthew’s
I moved to Acton over 40 years ago and started looking for a church community. I visited several other area churches which I thought might be a good fit for me(the denomination I grew up in is not in New England). I did not know anything about the Methodist Church but finally decided since I had not found a church that spoke to me I would try the “church around the corner”, St. Matthew’s!
The first day I attended I was warmly greeted, heard about outreach programs the church was involved in, and later in the day received a phone call stating that it was nice to have me in worship that morning. I didn’t need to look any further and I joined in 1978.
Since joining St. Matthew’s I have been active in many areas in the church- Sunday School for children (especially when our daughters were growing up), outreach programs and almost since joining- the trustees. I participated in things I never imagined (mission trip to Puerto Rico etc.) and my faith continues to be nurtured through members I participate with and opportunities to serve. Now amongst other activities, I enjoy the learning experiences the adult Sunday School provides. Saint Matthew’s has truly been a church home for our family which now includes two granddaughters. I feel very thankful for my friends at Saint Matthew’s.
I feel sent to continue in outreach activities and tell others what a great place Saint Matthew’s is. I think it is very important to make sure I welcome other visitors to our church home.
Bob
Received
We had moved from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Acton in December 2008. Karen and I first visited SMUMC on MLK day in 2009. That Sunday was meant to be a big celebration, but the special service was canceled due to a very large snowfall that prevented most people from getting to the church. We showed up to a handful of people in the sanctuary with most of the service outlined in the bulletin irrelevant. Despite the uncertainty, Pastor Bob Moore went ahead with an abbreviated service, which I believe included a sharing time from the congregation, some hymn singing and maybe a version of the planned sermon. We were welcomed warmly by the few that were there and what was obvious in the congregation was a true feeling of community at SMUMC even in an “awkward” moment where the planned service was not being carried out. This pointed to a real connection of folks at St. Matthews that they could handle this interruption and still make strangers feel at home.
Our family was welcomed during our first months at St. Matthews including our daughters Jillian and Kaeli being invited to the many activities of the youth group run by Herb and Sarah Taylor. Jillian, an 8th grader at the time, found a great set of friends that accepted her and helped fill a hole in her life that she lost when we moved, as she left behind a close group of life-long friends in Baton Rouge. Karen was invited to the women’s bible study and we both got involved in Sunday school. We were welcomed in so many ways into the life of St. Matthews and this helped make Acton and Massachusetts our new home to build a new life.
Transformed
The most transformational aspect of St. Matthew’s for me is the constant focus on the life and words of Jesus that come through in the services, activities, and outreach. Jesus’ life and words offer an alternative that the world so desperately needs and day after day the people of SMUMC offer that to me and many others. I am particularly inspired by Pastor Steve’s sermons and his take on the gospels. Jesus is unwavering in his fight for justice and constant in his love and compassion for the downtrodden and overlooked of society. I am also inspired by the many at St. Matthews that are so active in working for justice for all peoples. Thank you!
Sent for the sake of the world
The inspiration from St. Matthews gives me the heart to make a difference in the world and try to push back the powers of evil and hate that so dominate our everyday existence. For me, this mostly plays out in my working life, where I am blessed with a good job doing good work, but one is always given opportunities to witness to God’s love in the face of pessimism or cynicism in the modern workplace.
More recently I have been focusing on the welcoming ministry at SMUMC. In thinking about how we were welcomed at St. Matthews, I have been working to get coffee hour staffed as a way to welcome and support visitors and members of St. Matthews. Thank you to all have helped and jumped in to make coffee, bring treats, set-up and clean up. Please join me in the welcoming ministry or in any ministry where you believe God is calling you.
Wayne
When I hear the word ‘sent’, it brings to mind going away, to someplace other than where I am comfortable.
Right now, in my case, however, being sent doesn’t seem to mean that, not exactly. Although I do sometimes ‘go’ somewhere to lend a hand in some fashion or other, right now I feel I’ve been sent to Saint Matthew’s, to help out right here. It might be in working to make Saint Matthew’s more welcoming through various means, or helping the people of Saint Matthew’s reach out beyond our own walls through mission-related opportunities. Some of the various roles and activities I’ve taken on have led me out of my comfort zone and stretched me. And that has been good for me. Hopefully, these experiences will make it easier for me to leave that comfortable place the next time an opportunity arises.
I am thankful that the people of Saint Matthew’s have welcomed me and allowed me to learn as I go along my journey. I hope and pray that I can do likewise for others as well.
Leslie
I am God’s beloved.
I didn’t know that – No one had ever told me that before. I don’t think I’d ever even heard those words before, and I certainly didn’t know that my deep certainty of this fact would change my life until I began my journey at Saint Matthew’s.
I was drawn in – here in this very room – by the space that was provided for me in to feel my own wounds and listen deeply to the language of God’s love, which would prove to be healing.
Saint Matthew’s has received me by offering broad ideas about God, the certainty of God’s love, a place to question, a safe place to think about my thinking – my own thoughts about God – to voice my own contemplations and questions and to be encouraged to reflect deeply on the answers from within.
From worship to small groups, to retreats and gatherings, this is the common thread in all that Saint Matthews is. We are all deeply loved by God. No one gets a pass. One can’t help but be transformed by this understanding.
It’s been three years since I first heard those words and while that isn’t a long time, it’s enough time to alter my relationships – From my close and intimate relationships to my relationship with the world.
This understanding has catapulted me with confidence and a sense of urgency to be sent out into the world and bring God’s love with me. To take up causes I care about and to loudly champion others whose voices are not heard.
You are God’s beloved, in whom his soul delights. It’s as simple and complicated as that.
Thank you, St. Saint Matthews and thank you to all of you.
Ed
When I think about the purpose of our church, St. Matthews, I instantly smile at the vibrancy of the Holy Spirit witnessed between these walls. There is great energy that cannot be contained and truly requires channeling outwardly to generously share with our communities. One of my favorite prayers is the Prayer of St. Francis Assisi. I think of St Francis as the precursor to Thoreau – eccentric, ascetic, spiritual nature lover in the woods and hills, truly “off the wall”. Many of you know the prayer – we sang it a few weeks ago:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love…
I have felt very well received here over now twenty years (I warn my children that soon they will start counting in decades as well). At first, when Donna and I joined this church with the children – Ruthie, Ray, and Ryan – we were welcomed warmly in the year this beautiful sanctuary was opened. The kids were well received in Sunday School classes and later on in the Youth group and in confirmation classes guided with wonderful mentors.
The sources of my transformation here are multi-faceted: through scripture messages, music, Holy Communion, prayers of the people, and sermons that raise the challenge of walking in Jesus’ footsteps. Further, I have found that since college, contributing to services, Sunday School, and mission work furthers awakens the Holy Spirit in me, fortifying me along the way.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where is darkness, light, and
where there is sadness, joy.
I truly enjoy being a worship leader – putting my college radio voice back to work – and more importantly – exploring the scripture to prepare to read. This has been transforming and I recommend it to everyone – radio voice or not! Other spiritual tasks such as ushering, mentoring a confirmand, and now singing in the choir – these have been helped me to grow into a stronger relationship with Christ, where my thoughts and nightly prayers are more considerate of those for whom I pray. Nowadays, people speak of mindfulness exercises – instead I like to channel my deeper sense of Christ’s compassion to the challenges in my home, work, country, and the world.
Being Sent I feel that I walk with more confidence into the world with guidance of the Holy Spirit. What a crazy mixed-up world we find on a daily basis, with strange priorities, underemphasis on compassion and missing the lessons from our mistakes. I’m told that I bring calmness to situations at work, knowing that there’s plenty of wisdom and positive thinking collectively to solve problems and work towards harmony.
O Divine Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
I find that this cycle of being received, transformed, and sent is naturally iterative … deepened with each turn, both
challenging and fortifying with each turn.
For it is in giving that we are received,
Pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Thank you, St. Matthews for receiving my family and I, transforming us, and sending us to share God’s love for the sake of the world!