Cheyenne River Episcopal Mission

In 2004, St. Matthew’s began supporting the efforts of the Episcopal Church in White Horse, South Dakota. White Horse is located on the Cheyenne River Reservation and is the home of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, in central and northwestern South Dakota. We have assisted with school supplies and Christmas gifts for the children of the village and a group of our Sit-n-Stitch ministry made lap blankets for the elderly. In the summer of 2005 we sent a mission team to White Horse and put on a Vacation Bible School for the community.

The Children’s Shelter

A list of items needed by the Children’s Shelter is published each month in the newsletter. The collection of those items takes place on the second Sunday of each month. Then those items are delivered to the shelter or picked up by a representative from the shelter.

Christmas Families

St. Matthew’s Parish responds to the needy in the greater Spartanburg Community by sponsoring a family at Christmas.  Each year the parish collects gifts for a family that might otherwise not be able to participate in the usual festivities of exchanging gifts.  Look for posters around the parish during Advent.

Ecuador

St. Matthew’s supports with prayer and funding the missionary efforts of Cameron Graham, an Episcopal missionary in Quito, Ecuador. She trains youth ministers, hosts work teams from the United States, and is a principal founder of El Rio, a contemporary house church ministry for young adults. Cameron visits St. Matthew’s annually and keeps in regular touch with many members of our parish.

Recently a group from St. Matthew’s participated in a short-term mission to Ecuador with other churches in the area and one of our parishioners has just returned from Ecuador on an extended mission trip.

NA (Narcotics Anonymous) and Nar-Anon

This organization meets at St. Matthew’s on Sunday and Monday nights at 8:00 PM each week. Our priest functions as a liaison and contact person.

The Pumpkin Patch

Since October of 1996, our congregation has hosted a pumpkin patch where we sell not only pumpkins, but also Indian corn and various types of gourds. The pumpkins are brought to Spartanburg by truck from the Navaho Indians in New Mexico, and all of the profit is donated to various local, state, and national charities. The workers of the Pumpkin Patch are volunteers from the congregation, and each year everyone is amazed at the popularity of our pumpkin patch. The entire Spartanburg community likes supporting this outreach program and continues to come back each year. Tens of thousands of dollars have been donated to outreach and mission as a result of this project.

Spinal Cord Injury Support Group

This organization meets monthly at St. Matthew’s. For additional information, please contact the church office.

Thanksgiving

In response to the blessings God has bestowed upon our lives St. Matthew’s Parish sponsors several families each year providing them with a Thanksgiving feast.  Look to see more information about this ministry in the October/November issues of The Grapevine.