The St. Matthew Mission Outreach Board

The Mission Outreach Board exists to help you learn about and navigate the ministries and missions of St. Matthew Church and to help you to find ways to connect and ways to serve. Think of it as the train station that knows all the on ramps, off ramps and each stop down the line. You could just ride the train and see for yourself what we have to offer, or you could start at the Mission Outreach Board and let them help you get plugged in. Someone from the Mission Outreach Board is at the Connection Center each Sunday morning. Stop by and find out more about the ministries and missions of St. Matthew, find a Sunday school class, find a small group, ask questions, volunteer, etc.!

Serving within Saint Matthew

Children’s Ministry

To serve in the Children’s Ministry contact Lindsay Vollmar, Director of Children’s Ministry at lvollmar@stmatthew.church

 

Media Ministry

If you have an interest in running sound, running operating a camera, or your just curious how we reach the world through live streaming, Contact Brian Caringer, bcaringer@stmatthew.church

 

Young Adults

To serve with our young adults contact Amanda Caringer, adailey08@gmail.com

Worship Teams

To serve in the 9 a.m. blended service in the choir or orchestra contact Hank Oplinger, Minister Of Music, at 618-397-5994.

 

To serve in the 11 a.m. contemporary service worship band contact Matt Vollmar, Contemporary Worship Coordinator, mvollmar@stmatthew.church

 

Youth Ministry

To serve with our Junior and Senior High Students contact Matt Vollmar, Director of Youth Ministry, mvollmar@stmatthew.church

Local Missions

Community Interfaith Food Pantry

The Food Pantry seeks to aid local families by supplying them with a healthy variety of food on a regular basis in their time of need. The Food Pantry also supplies food baskets at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter so that these families may experience the love and generosity of God through His people. For more information on this local mission please go to feedbelleville.org,  call (618) 355-9199 or visit their location 1218 W Main St, Belleville, IL 62220.

 

Kids For Christ – Summer Sack Lunch Program

This program, that provides lunches for some of the most needy children in the community, will begin again on Monday, June 5 and continue each Monday through August 7. We prepare and deliver approximately 250 sack lunches each Monday. Our congregation has been most generous with their financial support, bringing provisions for the bin, volunteering time on Monday mornings to prepare lunches, and needed prayer. How we thank you all! The most needed items are as follows: individually wrapped bars or snack pkgs., fruit cups, pudding cups, salty snacks (these come in boxes with 12, 36, 48 all the way up to 100), cheese slices that are not individually wrapped and white sandwich bread (dropped off Sat. or Sun. to be fresh for Monday). Because of unknown allergies, we cannot accept items containing peanuts.

Those who have volunteered over the years are always welcome and those who want to volunteer to help may call the numbers provided. Questions? Call Diane Patton, 618-233-8575 or Craig and Susan Anderson 618-520-5101.

 

Weekend Meals Ministry

One More Child is now the Weekend Meals Ministry!

Same ministry, just a new name! We are still helping vulnerable children in our community throughout the entire school
year and you can help! For only $5.00, you can cover the cost of food for one child for one weekend. You can make a one time contribution, or you can sponsor a child for several weeks, or you can sponsor a child each weekend of the
rest of the school year. If you would like to be a part of this program, or if you have any questions you can stop by the Connection Center or call Diane Patton (618-604-1620) for more information. There are 3 ways to contribute: You can place cash or checks in an envelope (designated “Weekend Meals”) in the offering plate on Sunday. You can deliver your contribution to the church office from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm on Monday – Thursday. You can also mail your contribution to St. Matthew Church at 1200 Moreland Drive – Belleville, IL 62223. Please make checks payable to St. Matthew Church with the memo designated “Weekend Meals”. Your care and prayers for these students are dearly appreciated!

 

Other Local Missions We Support

  • Project Compassion
  • Angle Tree
  • Ellis Food Truck Food Drive through the St. Louis Community
  • Safe Families
  • R3 Development
  • Alanon
  • Adult Children of Alcoholics
  • The Mosaic Pregnancy Center

Global Missions

Paraguay
About

Since 1998, St. Matthew has been involved in mission work in Paraguay. Medical teams and construction teams travel to the South American country each year to help the Methodist Church of Paraguay reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Throughout the entire country, you will find church buildings, parsonages, and camps that were built by people from St. Matthew. There are people in that nation whose very lives were saved by medical treatment from St. Matthew’s medical team. There are many today who know Jesus Christ because of the missionaries and mission work that the church supports.

 

Current Mission

Every year the people of St. Matthew send a team of medical professionals loaded with supplies to care for the local population in one of the poorest locations in Paraguay. Every person who receives medical treatment also has a chance to be prayed over and to receive Jesus. Our team not only shares the gospel but provides bibles to everyone who comes.

 

These capable doctors, pharmacists, nurses, dentists, optometrists, and chiropractors need your prayers. There are so many hurting people both physically and spiritually, and they want to reach as many people as possible for the Lord!

 

 

Guatemala

Saint Matthew is excited to take its second mission trip to Guatemala this summer. Our missionary friends, Carlos & Heidi Fernandez are serving God in Guatemala as God put on their hearts to start a non-for-profit organization “Welcome to My Father’s House.” Their vision was to reach the very poor people in Mayan villages with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to empower these underprivileged people to grow in Christ and flourish in their God-given potential. This organization continues to support the Guatemalan people in evangelism, education, community development, medical, construction, and sports through creating partnerships with work teams from U.S. churches who come to work on the mission field. St. Matthew will be serving these precious people with a medical team and a team who will share the gospel with the youth through songs, stories and activities.

 

Operation Christmas Child

Samaritan’s Purse/Operation Christmas Child (OCC) is a volunteer organization that reaches millions of children each year with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a box of goodies to demonstrate God’s, and our, love for them. With your help, packed shoeboxes are shipped overseas to more than a hundred countries. The boxes are distributed at parties where the children each receive a shoebox gift, and they hear the Gospel presented in their own language. Every year, children made decisions to follow Jesus because of your efforts in packing boxes.

 

Shoebox packing season is October – November. Saint Matthew is a local collection site for Operation Christmas Child and each year our children and youth ministries sponsor a shoebox packing drive. National Collection is the second week November. Help us fill the church gym with shoe boxes to send around the world. Look for more information and shoe boxes for you to fill towards the end of October and the beginning of November each year.

 

If you would like more information about this ministry, contact the church office during those months or you can contact Tom Belter (618-960-7331).

 

For more on how Samaritan’s Purse uses and distributes the shoe boxes visit their website here. 

 

Love Packages

Love Packages collects Bible donations as well as donations of Christian books, Sunday School materials, and more from people and publishers across the U.S. and ship it all over the world. They ship over 1,500 tons of recycled gospel literature to the mission field every year. St. Matthew has donation bins near the entrance to the Vine Café (Fellowship Hall) for you to drop any donations. For more information, please call Bob Bruss (618-910-8345).

 

Other Global mission We Support
  • The Epworth Project
  • Midwest Mission
  • The Bridge Teen Center
  • Victorious Children’s Home
  • Welcome to My Father’s House