We recognize that we are not a perfect church, for none of us are perfect Christians.  Therefore, we recognize our need to continue to grow in our faith.  We are still growing, learning, and healing individually and as a community of believers.  We invite you to join us as we grow in our faith in Christ and become, little by little, more Christ-like.

Worship

We see our community worship services as valuable times for spiritual growth, both as individuals and as a community of believers.  Additional information on our Worship services and times can be found here.

Bible Study

We also consider individual and small group Bible Study to be an integral part of our spiritual growth.  Additional information on Bible study opportunities at Mathews Church can be found here.

Prayer

Prayer is essential to spiritual growth.  Everything we do must be completely covered by prayer so that we are depending on God’s strength, wisdom, and resources, and not just our own.  Additional information about our Prayer ministries can be found here.

Fellowship

An independent, self-reliant Christian is a contradiction in terms.  We are all part of the Body of Christ – the Church – and we all need each other.  Fellowship times allow us the opportunities to get to know each other better and to be able to minister to each other.  Additional information about Fellowship opportunities at Mathews can be found here.

Evangelism and Missions

We believe that everyone, everywhere needs Jesus’ love and presence in their lives.  It is through our evangelist and missional efforts that we seek to do our part in sharing with the world’s population the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Gifted Service

Each Christian is graciously given gifts of the Spirit for him/her to use in ministry to and with the Body of Christ.  Each member at Mathews has been given a unique role to play in our Church’s ministries and programs.  Therefore we expect each member to live up to their membership commitment to support the church by their prayers, their presence, their gifts, and their service. 

Financial Stewardship

We believe that all that we have has been given to us as a gift of God’s grace.  We also believe that we can never give enough back to God unless we give all we can and dedicate all of our resource to God and God’s Kingdom.  We believe that as we put trust in God by giving of our financial resources, as well as our time and talents, we grow spiritually. 

Inclusion of All People

We believe that racism, prejudice, and exclusive attitudes toward others are sins.  We believe that God loves the entire world (see John 3:16) and that Christ died for the sins of all.  Therefore, we continually seek to overcome our natural and cultural prejudicial attitudes as we grow in Christ.  We seek to include everyone in our community of believers – including you, regardless of who you are, what you look like, what your socio-economic status, or any other way that we might be tempted to classify you as “different” than us.  We invite you to challenge us in our growth in this area.

Lay Ministry

We expect our laity, the members “in the pews,” to be active in our ministries.  We do not expect our Pastor to do all the work. 

Our Vision and Our Mission

To summarize, we grow in our faith as we lift up and live up to our vision and mission statements: