“Outreach” is not just something Christians do. It is an extention of who we are, and thus an application of being constantly more “conformed to the image of the Son”, our Lord Jesus Christ. Outreach, as a disciple of Christ, therefore, is a way of life.
As a parish, we are looking to do a few things and do them well. The more people in our parish engaging and using their spiritual gifts, the more opportunities we will have to reach those outside of our worshipping community. God is already at work in our surrounding areas and in people’s lives before we arrive or meet them. We have been praying for wisdom and looking toward what the Lord might want us to do. Pray that the “Lord of the harvest would send laborers into the fields” to do his bidding. Pray that we would be those laborers and that we would expect the harvest He chooses to give us as we seek to bring joy to heaven by making disciples of those who are lost without Jesus, the savior of the world.
Also, pray that in any area of the created order – education, business, athletics, the arts, family, and community service in the Bloomington-Normal area – that we would be “light” as being those who do our jobs and do them well. People who are dependable, honest, respectful, and brave. Persons that value people, not use them for our own purposes. The Gospel of Jesus needs to be communicated through the preached and spoken (individually) Word of God. However, it is also communicated by how we live, because we have been created and redeemed in the very image of God.
In 2024 we continued and finished our large landscaping and beautification project. This project was well-supported by our membership and framed as a communication to our community of our desire to be here in worship and mission for many years to come. We also believe that the completion of this project offers a fresh welcome to our local neighborhood and to those who travel by our campus on Oakland Avenue. The renovation to the covered porch area near our Parish Hall entrance also provides an inviting space where people can fellowship with new seating, lighting, and paver brick construction.
We were blessed in 2024 and 2025 with many new attenders, several younger families (relocating to the area or on a spiritual journey), and multiple people seeking discipleship and baptism in faith to our Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, we have seen many people desire to take the step into full membership at St. Matthew’s, returning to or confirming their baptismal vows. Our Outreach Committee received fresh leadership, building on the good work of the faithful who had come before them. There is a new sense of energy on this committee and their members and ministry has grown in kind.
In 2025 we also began discussions regarding further phases in connection with the care and the renovation of our campus facilities in the prayerful hopes of future mission with purpose. With leadership and support from the Fr. Tom and the Vestry, our Building Committee evaluated our utility needs and discussed planning for future work. Our HVAC system was significantly and wisely updated with the council of several of the trade professionals among our membership (thank you, Lord for their knowledge and giftedness). Discussion has also begun regarding other needed updates and the possible expansion or renovation of our current Community Center. Not only do we want to keep the services already offerred by the Community Center, but we are also considering other ways that we might use this facility for continued outreach in concert with the proclamation of the Gospel. In addition, our growth has revealed our limited parking and the limits of the current configuration of our facilities in light of our available real estate.
Much prayer, seeking, and stewardship awaits us as we seek to live out our discipleship in the context of the worship of our Triune God in Spirit, Word, and Sacrament. As the Church, we are the gifts of God to the world; a world we are called to serve and pursue with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.