St. Matthew's Episcopal Church

Stephen Ministry is a program that equips a team of lay caregivers, called Stephen Ministers, in the congregation. Stephen Ministers provide high-quality, confidential, faith-based care and support to people experiencing grief, divorce, cancer, job loss, loneliness, disability, relocation, and other life difficulties. The Stephen Ministries organization, based in St. Louis, Missouri, provides congregations with the proven training, resources, and ongoing support to organize and equip this ministry. Since 1975, it has helped more than 11,000 congregations implement Stephen Ministry in more than 150 denominations, from all 50 states, 10 Canadian provinces, and 23 other countries.

If you feel that you could benefit from the care of a Stephen Minister or you think you might be called to be a Stephen Minister, speak to Charlie de Kay or Terri Morrissey or contact the Parish Office (847-869-4850 or info@stmatthewsevanston.org) to be connected with them.

Sign-up to help serve lunches on Wednesdays here.

The St. Matthew’s Outreach Team has found a partner in St. Mark’s to prepare and distribute sack lunches to the homeless in Evanston every Wednesday! We are targeted to launch in early February.

“Wednesday Lunch” will involve preparing and packing somewhere between 50-100 sack lunches on Tuesday after school/work and serving on Wednesday at St. Mark’s when the Interfaith Action of Evanston Hospitality Center closes for the morning.

This will be a multi-generational and zero-waste ministry! We hope that families, students, existing small groups (choir, vestry, children’s formation teachers, people with brown hair, families with small children, teens with (or without) attitude, young adults with zip – you get the idea) and new small groups from just St. Matthew’s, from just St. Mark’s and from combinations of the two will be chomping at the bit to start planning and packing lunches! Any person of any age who wishes to pack and/or serve are welcome.

Remember – this is EVERY Wednesday!!! Those who want this to be a part of their daily lives can make it so. Those who want to participate occasionally or rarely, are encouraged to do so!

Sign-up to help pack lunches on Tuesdays here.

Sign-up to help serve lunches on Wednesdays here.

For more information, contact Outreach Team chair Joanne Wilson at info@stmatthewsevanston.org. 

Mission Statement: “Environmental sustainability: Building a green community”

Our goals:

1. To make St. Matthew’s into a zero-waste facility

2. To educate the church and the wider community about sustainability

What does zero-waste mean?

St. Matt’s Green Team brings Zero Waste to the Evanston Deanery- May, 2014.

In brief, it means that, to the extent possible, all the by-products of our events are either composted or recycled. This is accomplished by using and then washing “real” dishes or using compostable and/or recyclable supplies that are disposed of in compost/recycling bins rather than put into the trash. All food waste is also composted. Zero-waste practices use fewer natural resources and keep literally tons of garbage out of landfills every year! View the St. Matthew’s zero-waste policy here.

Our members:

Nancy Allred, Anne Branning, Roberta Buchanan, Marcy Carmack, Mary Jo Deysach, Bobby McSweeney, Christina Padilla (chair), Ann Searles, Anne Viner, Deborah Williams, Jennie Woodring

Recent Accomplishments:

• All events at St. Matthew’s are now zero-waste, per Vestry. View the St. Matthew’s zero-waste policy here.

• Sunday morning coffee hour is zero-waste
• We raised $1,000 in 15 minutes to purchase two heavy duty multi-bin compost/recycling/waste units for kitchen and Parish Hall
• We represented St. Matthew’s as the “Green Church” at the Deanery Barbecue in Winnetka, where we provided all the supplies and instruction necessary to make the event zero-waste
• We have joined the new “We Compost” window decal program, which is a recognition program operated by the Illinois Food Scrap Coalition, to recognize Illinois businesses and organizations that have a demonstrated commitment to composting
• Worked with St. Matthew’s Staff to obtain grants from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation and ComEd’s Small Business Energy Savings program to upgrade the nearly 600 lighting fixtures throughout the church building and serve as a model of greater energy efficiency in the community. Read more here, here, andhere.  View photos of the work in progress here.