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St. Matthew's Episcopal Church

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Greetings!

We hope you will join us for our Holy Week services live streamed on our Facebook page .

Worship Services In a Time of Challenge

Do Not Panic ... God is With US ... You are Loved

As many of you know, Bishop Lattime has called for a suspension of worship services in churches throughout the Diocese; although the suspension was initially for a two week period, he has just extended it due to continued concern for pubic gatherings. (See Bp Lattime's most recent Pastoral Letter below).

Although our doors are closed temporarily, our hearts remain open, and we persevere in our prayers. We will continue our worship, though it will be undertaken in new ways during this time.

During this time of challenge, we want to let you know that we are working hard on keeping connection with as many of our parishioners as we can!

We are offering live-streamed services from our FaceBook page. We are currently looking for a way for folks who do not have a FaceBook page to access the streamed services through our website – we’ll keep you informed if we can put the appropriate ‘links’ up.

We are now offering, on the St. Matthew's FaceBook page:

Noonday prayers, Monday through Friday at noon.

Wednesday evening Compline – 8:00pm

Wednesday evening Bedtime Stories – 8:30pm

Sunday morning worship – 10:30am

We are looking into offering a 'Virtual Coffee Hour' on a weekday morning, via Zoom! We will keep you informed when we get that set up!

Our Sunday morning worship is going to be a joint-offering of St. Matthew’s, and St. Jude’s in North Pole. We will rotate between the churches, and the services will be led by The Rev. Betty Glover, and The Rev. John Holz. We will have a bit of music to enhance our worship occasionally, as well. Please know that we are following safety guidelines as we plan and offer these services.

Jessica is working her usual hours, and is continuing to take care of the tasks of running the Parish Office. She is splitting her time between working in the parish office, and working from home -- but she is available by phone during business hours (9-5, with a lunch break from noon - 1pm.) You can reach her by phone at 907-456-5235 extension 4. Please do leave a message if you get the voicemail system - so that she can know to return your call. Additionally, Mother Betty can be reached either through the office phone (follow the prompts) or by her cell phone: 907-987-9608. Please continue to reach out if you have pastoral matters, or prayer requests that she can help you with! We are following protocols for safety as outlined by the CDC, our civil authorities and our Bishop. If you need to come to the Church, call first, so that we can be ready. We might be able to help over the phone without a trip being necessary.

We are in frequent contact with the Diocesan Office, and the Bishop – and other colleagues/churches across the Diocese as we continue our work.

Online Giving

We are aware that these are difficult, unpredictable times for everyone, and we know that for some there is financial and job insecurity. Please let us know if there is a way for us to help you.

We are committed to continuing our work and ministry here at St. Matthew’s, and the staff is watching our expenses carefully. Even in this time of challenge, we hope that, if you are able, you will continue your financial donations to the church, as our costs go on.

Several parishioners have asked how they can get their offerings to the church, since we are not having our usual in-person services. There are several ways to donate now: 1) through snail-mail: 1030 2 ^nd Avenue, Fairbanks, AK 99701; or 2) you can drop your donation in our locked, secure mailbox at the office door on 2 ^nd Avenue; or 3) you can use the ‘Donate Now’ button just below, (that is our on-line option). Know that we remain so grateful for your support of St. Matthew’s!

Donate Now

On-Line Bible Study Coming Soooon!

Beginning on Thursday, April 16, 2020 – at 6:30pm, Deacon Susan will teach a 4 week class on the ‘Life of Joseph’. It will be live-streamed on our FB page, initially – and end at 7:00pm. We hope you’ll put this on your calendar and join Deacon Susan in this new offering.

St. Matthew's Endowment Grants

This year the St. Matthew’s Endowment Fund has $14,135 to award as grants. The purpose of the grants are to enhance the worship, ministry and/or outreach mission of St. Matthew’s: they may not be used for items or activities covered by the general operating budget of St. Matthew’s.

The instructions for applying are available on the Church website ( stmatthewschurch.org ) or from the church office; call 456-5235 or email coordinator@stmatthewschurch.org , if you would like an Application Packet mailed to you.

Please send applications by mail to:

St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church

1030 2 ^nd Avenue

Fairbanks, Alaska 99701

The Deadline for Applications is April 15 -- if you send your application in by USPS, please allow sufficient time for it to be received by the deadline.

Wonderful Wednesdays are Getting Even More Wonder-Fuller!!!

Wednesdays at St. Matthew's are Wonderful, and will look a bit different as we change the way we worship temporarily. We will not have Choir Practice, nor will we offer the 7:00pm service of Holy Eucharist.

We WILL still offer our Compline LIVE service at 8:00pm -- just tune in to our FB Page at 8:00 on Wednesdays.

We are now offering ‘Bedtime Stories’ at 8:30! We encourage you to gather everyone in your home, as we read a story to end the day… Some of the stories will be Bible stories written for children, and others might be wonderful stories like ‘Ferdinand the Bull’ (Mthr Betty’s FAVORITE), or ‘The Giving Tree’…or other really wonderful stories to share with our parishioners, and others… We will offer these stories by live-streaming on our FB page. It’s one of the ways we are reaching out beyond our walls to keep in connection during this time of challenge. Please share the word and join us!!

The Right Reverend Mark Lattime

Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska

1205 Denali Way, Fairbanks, AK 99701

Pastoral Letter

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)

“In you, Lord, is our hope; and we shall never hope in vain.”

March 30, 2020

To the Beloved of Christ Jesus in the Diocese of Alaska:

I give thanks for the living hope that binds us together in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Despite this period of anxious physical separation from our communities of faith, from our friends and our normal patterns of life, our bounds of love remain strong. In fact, I have witnessed how these bounds have been strengthened.

Giving thanks for the wonderful, creative, and responsible ways the congregations of the Diocese of Alaska have adapted to the guidelines for slowing the transmission of COVID-19, and the extraordinary ministries that continue to serve the needs of our communities, I have even more reason for hope.

Standing with you in this hope, I call on all Episcopalians in the Diocese of Alaska as individuals to strictly adhere to the social isolation restrictions of the Governor’s Public Health Mandates, as well as any Orders or Directives given by the civil authority or tribal leadership in your community. In short: stay home; cease gatherings of any kind except with your household; self-isolate if you have symptoms of illness; avoid all unnecessary travel; maintain a six-foot distance from others if you must be out for an essential activity; wash your hands frequently.

Furthermore, until it is stated by the Chief Medical Officer, Public Health professionals, and the Department of Health and Human Services that public gatherings no longer pose a risk to contributing to the COVID-19 pandemic, and until further notice by Pastoral Letter, I call on all congregations to continue to suspend all public gatherings; and, when possible, to assist any groups or ministries in finding alternatives to public or physical gatherings in church buildings.

As of the date of this letter, the Public Health Mandates and Executive Orders in effect allow small worship teams (10 or fewer) to provide worship streaming from our parish buildings (including sanctuaries). This is permissible ONLY if a strict adherence to the guidelines for social distancing can be maintained. Social distancing guidelines require a minimum of six feet separation between individuals. This is not a loop hole in the civil order or a special exemption, but is specified to allow low risk non-public minimum basic operations or activities to continue where CDC precautions can be maintained. It applies to both for-profit and non-profit entities. However, I urge any leadership teams that choose to provide worship streaming from their church buildings to limit the number of participants to the barest minimum despite the 10-person limit established by the Mandate. Under these restrictions, non-public worship from church buildings for streaming online, as well as other minimum basic operations requiring access to church buildings, is permissible. *

Many options and online platforms are being used to offer worship and pastoral care. Instead of live streaming from the church, several congregations are using teleconferencing platforms for worship, virtual coffee hours, and weekly prayer groups. These teleconferencing platforms have the additional benefit of not requiring worship leaders to leave home or to gather even in the smallest number.

I applaud and commend all of these creative uses of technology to support the spiritual health of our people. I am encouraged to hear the excellent reviews and to read comments from online participants of how important, meaningful, and comforting these “virtual” worship services have been in all their forms. I support and trust our congregations and leaders to use whatever technologies or practices that best suit their needs and resources while honoring our civil responsibility to protect the public health.

With Holy Week and Easter ahead, I have every confidence that our worship and spiritual preparation for the journey with Jesus to the Cross and the grave of Good Friday will awaken our souls to His Passion, and our celebrations of His glorious Resurrection on Easter Day will fill our hearts with the joy of His victory over death and the grave and His gift to us of reconciliation and new life.

In the Hope of Christ Jesus,

*This provision of the State Mandate also permits going to a church office when necessary to collect mail, pay bills, process payroll, or to conduct any Minimum Basic Operations that cannot be achieved from an off-site location. However, this ONLY applies if social distancing guidelines are strictly enforced.

Coming Up This Week

Sunday, April 5

10:30 AM - Holy Eucharist Rite II on Facebook Live

Monday, April 6