Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

"A Bad Boy Has Something to Tell Us"

Rev. Allen Mothershed

Masks are now required for everyone while indoors at St. Matthew, regardless of your vaccine status.

The 2022 Stewardship campaign is underway. This year, we are concentrating on living our lives as God's stewards. 

Are you a scout leader, a coach for your children's teams, a food pantry volunteer? As part of our stewardship campaign, we encourage you to go to https://stmatthewucc.org/stewardship/ and describe a way you have been a steward of time and talent.

Commitment Sunday is October 24th.

Betty Greer will be at church to collect donations from 1-2:30pm on the following Saturdays: October 9th and 23rd.

This month, Betty has asked that people donate items that they would like or need if they had to use the food pantry. Thank you for your generosity. Donations are given to People's Resource Center and the Interfaith Food Pantry.

10 spots still available!

Join the Mission Committee at Feed My Starving Children on Columbus Day, October 11th from 11:30am-1pm. Children should be off school this day so this is a great volunteer opportunity for families. Please contact Erin Walsh (edbreit@hotmail.com or 630.660.4651) or Alex Johnson (alexanderjohnson30@yahoo.com) if you are interested in attending or have any questions. 

The first of three sessions on stewardship will begin at 7pm, Wednesday, October 20th by Zoom. In this first session, we will distinguish between ownership and stewardship. We’ll look at how stewardship encompasses our attitudes toward our environment, our work, our family and friends, and toward our church. Read the introduction and chapter 2 of Giving to God by Mark Allan Powell to be better prepared for the discussion. Contact Byron Miller with any questions.

Join our Join Zoom Meeting at:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82572653079?pwd=RFhhazExdXg5eUJadDhkK09BeFN1dz09  

Meeting ID: 825 7265 3079    Passcode: 664465

Join us after church on October 24th for a Best of St. Matthew Pie contest AND a Pie Eating contest! Both contests will occur at the same time. The crazies invite the church to be involved as well. 

Pie contest: The crazies would like everyone to make their best homemade pie and the winner will get a prize. (No store-bought pies will be judged.)

Pie eating contest: You guessed it; whoever eats a pie the fastest is the winner! Are you up for the challenge?

If you would like to participate in either of these events, click here to sign up or contact Mel at melj88@hotmail.com or 847.899.3376.

On Sunday, October 31st, during worship, we will read the names of those from our church who have died in the past year’s time. If you have lost someone this past year, please send their name to the office and we will light a candle for all those we are missing.

We will also offer our prayers to all who have lost their lives or lost a loved one to COVID-19. We hope this will be a healing service for those who have suffered a loss and a time once again to give God thanks for the lives of those who have touched our own.

The Interfaith Food Pantry in Carol Stream provides food, household items and personal items to people in need in Wheaton, Warrenville, Winfield, Glen Ellyn, Glendale Heights, and Carol Stream. More than 125 families, over 400 people, are served each month by our volunteers. They are thankful for the support that St. Matthew provides.

They need your help:
• Each three-hour shift has three volunteers
• You can help once a month or as often as once a week
• Great for retirees or stay-at-home parents
• We’ll train you - it’s easy and inspiring!

The Pantry is open:
Mondays and Wednesdays, 9am to noon
Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon to 3pm

If you, or you and your friends, would like to volunteer or would like more information, contact Mary at the Interfaith Food Pantry at 630.665.6426 or interfaithfoodpantrycs@gmail.com.

While we are not going on the Biloxi mission trip this year, we will still support Back Bay Mission by sending them Manna/Scrip Walmart cards to distribute to those in need.

You may donate Walmart cards yourself, just be sure to get them in $25 denominations, and mail them to the office or drop them in the mailbox outside of the office door. Please write your name on the envelope so that we can give you credit for your donation.

If you would like us to order the cards for you, just bring a check made out to St. Matthew and give to Edie at the Manna table on Sundays or send your check to the church with a note that it is for Back Bay.

The deadline for all Walmart cards or Scrip orders for Back Bay is October 17th.

This is a gentle class, suitable for beginners, those over 50, or anyone looking for a slower-paced yoga class. Yoga can be practiced with a chair, if needed.

If you can breathe, you can practice yoga! 

Marla welcomes all members and friends to attend Thursday mornings in October at 10am. Cost is $10/class. 

Masks will be worn, and we have plenty of space to social distance. For questions or to sign up, contact Marla Mothershed at 630.441.5963.

https://stmatthewucc.org/yoga-in-the-sanctuary/

Click here to read the updated guidelines. 

Masks are now required for everyone while indoors at St. Matthew, regardless of your vaccine status.

Please do not attend if you are sick or have recently been sick. As always, everyone's health and safety is important to us and we will adjust plans as necessary.

Please send prayer requests via the following link and we can share them (or keep them private, if you prefer). You can also email them to the office.

You can make a prayer request here: https://stmatthewucc.org/contact-us/

The St. Matthew worship service will be streamed every Sunday at 9:30am. The service will be available on our website after the service.

Access the service through the St. Matthew YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/StMatthewUCC

**Once you are on YouTube, you have the option to turn on closed captioning and resize the font. Once the video is playing, click on the setting wheel in lower-right of your screen, choose Subtitles/CC, then choose English.**

You can also go to the St. Matthew homepage (stmatthewucc.org) to access the online service. 

Go to our website for instructions on how to donate to St. Matthew. Thank you!