Scripture: Luke 17:11-19

"Lord, Teach Us to Pray: Thanks!"

 Rev. Kyle Roggenbuck

We were made aware this week that some members received emails that appeared to be from Pastor Kyle saying that she had "something confidential to discuss." Often the emails will say that the sender cannot talk. These emails are scams. They are not from Pastor Kyle. If you receive an email and question its validity, do NOT answer the email. Call the church office, Pastor Kyle, or send us a separate email asking for verification. We remind people NEVER to send financial or personal information through email. 

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.

Join us after church this Sunday to thank Mel and Blessy for their leadership and ministry with our youth. We will share fellowship and cake in Dobstaff. We encourage the youth, their parents, and anyone who would like to express their thanks to bring them a card. They will be missed!

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. He will be playing the prelude and postlude as well, so come early and enjoy! We encourage people to wear blue and yellow. 

We will also be taking a special collection for Ukraine. St. Matthew has donated $7500 from Mission funds this year and the UCC has donated over $200,000.

A celebration of life service for Diane will be held on Saturday, August 20th at 11am. 

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.

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 have a few Sundays left in August when we need some music. 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!