Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Welcome to St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in the heart of the Parkrose neighborhood, where we have been serving God and the people of God since 1944!
The Great 50 Days of Easter continue! On Sunday, May 20 at 9:00 am, our presider and preacher will be the Rev. Alcena Boozer. Our music will be led today by The Red Door Four with David Donnell on the organ and Carolyn Lindberg on the flute. As always, it will be a wonderful morning, made even better by YOUR presence!
During the entire month of May, we are receiving donations of granola bars for the families served at the Daybreak Shelter. We also have for sale CD’s produced by the Parkrose High School Music Dept. CDs may be purchased for $10.00 each with all the proceeds going to the high school. St. Matthew’s is proud to be a sponsor of this music CD!
You’ll want to be at St. Matthew’s on Friday, May 18 at 1:00 pm for our monthly discussion group. This month’s topic will be Getting Rid of Stuff. The next day we’ll have an Empanada Sale & Fiesta for the newly formed KitchenCommons. Please see the Upcoming Events page for more details.
On Thursday, May 24, we’ll host our first Taizé service at 6:00 pm. On Sunday, May 27, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost — and we’ll all be dressed in the colors of fire — red, orange, and yellow! Following worship, we’ll feast on Pentecost cake — the cake sympolizing the Church, the whipped cream symbolizing the mortar that binds us together, and the strawberries on top signify the fire of the Holy Spirit!
Our Memorial Garden will be open on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
New to the neighborhood? We love to do house blessings! Just give us a call or send us an email and we’ll find a date that works. Know someone who is sad or burdened? We have many lovely prayer shawls crafted by our parishioners in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. When your friend or loved one wrap themselves in the prayer shawl, they will truly feel embraced by God’s love. We bless prayer shawls on the first Sunday of every month.
Can’t make it to church on Sunday? We come together for the Daily Office several times during the week: Noonday Prayer on Tuesdays at 11:45 am in the office, Morning Prayer on Wednesday and Friday at 9:00 am in the chapel, and Evening Prayer on Thursdays at 5:00 pm in the chapel. (For Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, please use the chapel entrance.)
The parish office will be on limited hours from May 28 to June 11s. Phone messages will be checked on a regular basis.
The Hebrew Scriptures call God’s people to “Seek the shalom of the place where I have sent you, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its shalom, you will find your own shalom” (Jeremiah 29:7). The St. Matthew’s community strives to be “A Center for Christ’s Mission & Ministry in the Parkrose neighborhood & beyond,” seeking the well-being of our neighborhood as well as the larger world around us. The St. Matthew’s community yearns to be a place of welcome for all:
–for seekers and people who are interested in learning more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ,
–for those drawn to meaningful, transformational worship that richly connects ancient Christian practices from the earliest ages with our soul’s yearning for the Holy in the 21st century,
–for those who are seeking a “safe harbor” during a difficult period of life,
–for those who have a passion for service and ministry,
–for those who want to be part of a community of faith undergoing re-birth,
–for those who are weary and burdened and who are in need of God’s friendship, love, grace, healing and wholeness,
–for those who want to be part of a community that “strives for justice and peace, and respects the dignity of every human being,”
–for all who hunger for a church that’s open, welcoming, and inclusive of all people .
In the Episcopal Church, including at St. Matthew’s, we believe that spiritual authority is based on what Anglicans have long referred to as “the three-legged stool”: Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. When decisions are to be made, we are to ask for God’s guidance through not just one but all three means of revelation. Over the centuries this has allowed us to embrace a variety of changes, such as the welcome of all baptized persons to the Communion table (previously one needed to be confirmed in order to receive Holy Communion), the decision to allow divorced persons to be re-married in the church, the decision to recognize the ministry of women in all levels of lay and ordained leadership, and more recently, the recognition that God’s call to ordained ministry can and does include gay and lesbian people. We support full and equal access to all the sacraments, regardless of a person’s sexual orientation. God’s Spirit continues to open our minds and hearts to God’s wisdom and truth in many surprising and wonderful ways.
The Episcopal Church welcomes all who worship Jesus Christ in 109 dioceses and three regional areas in 16 nations. The Episcopal Church is a member province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Please come and see all that the Spirit of God is up to at St. Matthew’s! The church is located at 11229 NE Prescott St., Portland, OR 97220, across from Senn’s Dairy Park. The parish office is generally open Tuesday through Friday mornings and we are available at other times by appointment. The office is closed on Mondays. Our phone number is 503.252.5720 and phone messages are checked regularly so please don’t hesitate to call! We would love to hear from you — and if you’re looking for a faith community, we would love to be your church!
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- Stained Glass North Wall of Interior of Church South Wall of St. Matthew’s, facing the Altar
