We enjoy fellowship with each other and with our friends, community, and diocese. Fellowship at St. Matthew’s takes many forms, including our relationship with each other on Sunday mornings, our participation in organized fellowship events, and as a beneficial “by-product” realized during the course of other activities.
We strengthen the bonds among us by greeting one another on Sunday morning and taking time to get to know one another better. Gathering before and after worship, attending coffee hour,and enjoying meals together are the principal ways we share fellowship and extend and foster the community we experience through common worship. Please remember that extending yourself to others in hospitality is something we are all called to do. If you would like to further this ministry by helping with hosting coffee hour and other fellowship events, please contact Karen Ireland (919 732‐7538) or Lisa Frost‐Phillips (919 732‐9308).
Parish Life Committee: The Parish Life Committee meets on the second Saturday of each month to plan and coordinate fellowship activities.
Coffee Hour: Light refreshments are provided following morning worship on Sundays.
Fellowship Dinners: Programs are offered on occasion during our Program Year.
Greeters: Greeters welcome visitors at the Sunday services and answer any questions about life at St. Matthew’s.
Receptions: Volunteers help organize and support receptions following special church services and events.
Newcomer’s Committee: The Newcomer’s Committee meets quarterly and hosts three to five newcomer events during the year.
Ladies’ Night Out: St. Matthew’s Ladies’ Night Out is held at 7:00 PM on the first Tuesday about five times per year. The meetings are held in a church member’s home. Sometimes there are specific programs. Other times, the meetings center around the attendees sharing their stories and comments about a thought that has been provided by clergy prior to the meeting. Part of the gathering is solely for chat and fellowship. Meetings have a food theme, and attendees may bring whatever food type has been chosen for that meeting. In the past, we have had a salad theme, dessert theme, a wine and chocolate theme, “south of the border”, comfort food, and an hors d’oeuvres theme. Our October meeting centers around soup. There are usually a dozen or more soups to savor. In December the Ladies’ Night Out theme food is cookies. Ladies bring their favorite cookies with recipes for sampling and swapping. Click below for the 2020 Cookie Recipe Swap.
Monthly Fellowship Breakfasts (formerly called The Monthly Men’s Fellowship Breakfast Group): Parishioners meet monthly for breakfast and fellowship. This is not a closed group; all are invited to participate. While it is mainly a men’s organization, women are welcome to come, eat and participate in the meetings. We meet in the Fellowship Hall at the church on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 8:00 am. A local restaurant caters the breakfast, and the cost currently is $7.00 per person. We usually have a short program involving one or more of the participants talking about their experiences or their special interests. This breakfast meeting is an excellent opportunity for parishioners to get to know each other better. Currently, Jim Parsley sends our monthly reminder invitations, makes meeting arrangements, and convenes the group.
Dinner Groups: Dinner groups are made up of seven to nine folks who get together over the course of the year to enjoy a meal together and get to know fellow parishioners in the comfortable setting of each others’ home. Signup for groups starts in December, and groups are put together by the Parish Life committee in January. Couples and singles alike are welcome to join; the meal can be a dinner at a member’s home with everyone contributing a course, or it can be an evening in one of Hillsborough’s varied restaurants. It can be a brunch, a picnic or a cook out. It can have a food “theme,” such as a night in Italy or a Mexican fiesta. However simple or creative your group wants to be, at the heart of the evening is fellowship and getting together with new and old friends.