Scripture: Mark 4:35-41

"Lord, Teach Us to Pray: Help!"

 Rev. Kyle Roggenbuck

Outdoor Service

We will have an outdoor service, weather permitting, each month this summer. Join us on Sunday, July 24th and August 28th. Please bring your own chair.

The nursery will not be open on outdoor worship days. We will have Sunday School.

Much like last year's need to refresh our kitchen supplies, St. Matthew would like to refresh some of the furnishings around the church. Right now, at St. Matthew, we are in a period of change and looking toward the future. We want the interior of St. Matthew to be as welcoming as its people.

We would like to replace stained, ripped furniture with some new pieces. Ideally, we would replace chairs in the office, the narthex, and the parlor, purchase a new side table for the narthex, and a larger table for the parlor. Curtains and a bright carpet are on the wishlist for the nursery. 

To accomplish this, we are asking for your help by donating money to St. Matthew, earmarked for furniture. You can leave a check in the Sunday offering (noting "furniture" in the memo), leave a check in the black mailbox outside the office, or donate online and note Furniture in the memo line. 

Please contact Kenna Anderson, Dawn Schubert, or the office with questions. We sincerely thank you for your generosity.

Our pastoral opening is now advertised on the UCC website. We’ve had four pastors submit their profiles to us, and we’ll begin scheduling interviews within the week. Please continue to ask us questions, give us input, and keep us in your prayers.

Sincerely,

St. Matthew Search Committee: Hi Baird, Karen Fenney, Janella Holshouser, Carol Honeywell, Roseanne King, John Kouns, Eric Lindberg, Dorothy Peterson, Emily Sancken, Bernie Tameling

Betty Greer will be at church to collect donations from 1-2:30pm on Saturday, July 30th. Most needed items are listed on the left sidebar.

On Sunday, July 31st, we will welcome Alexey Poltavchenko as our guest musician to worship with us at St. Matthew. Alexey is a classical musician and plays the cello. He is from Odessa, a city of just under one million people on the Black Sea in southwest Ukraine.

Come and enjoy his beautiful cello music and learn more about Alexey and his beloved Ukraine as we show our support for the people of Ukraine.

We invite all the women of St. Matthew to join a new women's ministry, providing the opportunity for a regular connection time to deepen relationships, foster connections, and inspire meaningful conversations.

August 11th at 7pm at Kenna Anderson's home

St. Matthew will be hosting a Red Cross Blood Drive on Wednesday, August 31st from 10am-3pm in Dobstaff. 

Click here to make an appointment to donate.

We need volunteers to grace our summer services with musical selections. Many of you have musical talents but cannot commit to the rehearsal schedules of the groups. This is an excellent time to step up and share them in Worship. It doesn’t have to be fancy, sometimes simpler is better. Individuals, duets, or small groups all work well. There is a sign-up sheet in the narthex or you can contact the office and let us know which Sunday you would like to play.

St. Matthew will be sending a group of volunteers to Biloxi, Mississippi this fall to work with Back Bay Mission. Volunteer opportunities include worksite construction, painting, helping in the food pantry, assisting clients at the Micah Day Center, and preparing food at Loaves & Fishes soup kitchen.

The cost for the trip is $250 per person, which covers the cost of accommodations (dormitory style) in the volunteer Mission house on the Back Bay campus. If you are interested or would like to know more about the trip, look for the sign-up sheet in the narthex. A final count needs to be submitted by August 1st.

Contact Jeannine Adams for additional information at 630.890.7690.

The nursery is open! We are looking for volunteers willing to be the second adult in the nursery. We hope to have enough volunteers that you would only be scheduled once a month at the most. Please contact Kenna at kenna1@comcast.net or 630.209.5710 if you would like to be added to the list. Thank you!

If you would like to read scripture during the Sunday worship service, please contact Bruce Anderson at bruceanderson5959@gmail.com and he will add you to the list. 

We would like to have greeters welcoming people again. Would you be able to commit to one (1) Sunday a month for a few months? No handshake is needed, just a smile and a "Good morning!" Let Wendy Fanning or the office know if you would like to be a greeter. 

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!