Community Service/Social Justice Ministries
To volunteer or be considered for any of these ministries, please contact the parish office at 518-765-2805 or submit the ministry form.
Alzheimer Care Team - Eddy Alzheimer’s Services is proud to sponsor a Care Team at St. Matthew’s. They provide the training for all volunteers. Members of the care team provide social support to individuals and families living with Alzheimer’s disease or other memory impairment disorders.
Family Promise – St. Matthew’s Church serves as a host site for families served by Family Promise of the Capital Region. Family Promise serves homeless families, helping them obtain the services needed to obtain permanent housing, healthcare and jobs. Guest families are welcomed and housed overnight approximately four weeks per year for a week at a time at St. Matthew’s. Volunteer opportunities include: set up or take down of the overnight facilities, meal preparation, an overnight stay, and activity organization.
Hospitality – St. Matthew's is known for its charism of hospitality, striving to provide a warm and welcoming environment to all parishioners and guests. Members of this ministry support these efforts by providing essential services such as meal preparation, set up, and clean up at various community events sponsored by our church. Some of the events this ministry supports are the Simple Soup Suppers during Lent, coffee hour receptions held after Mass, and the Annual St. Matthew’s Day Parish Picnic.
Men’s Association – St. Matthew’s Men’s Association is an organization of parishioners that perform services for the parish and provide financial support for various activities in the parish. The group meets monthly at St. Matthew’s.
Pastoral Care Team – Visiting the housebound elderly and the chronically and terminally ill is no easy task, but our mere presence, as someone willing to be a friend and a listening ear, can mean much more than we can imagine. Parish volunteers, under the guidance of Diane Malinowski Dunston, are available to make home visits and bring Communion to people in their homes, assisted living facilities and the hospital. Members of the Pastoral Care Team provide emotional and spiritual support to persons in the St. Matthew’s community. This involves visiting those that are frail and housebound both to provide companionship and to bring the Eucharist to them. Visits are scheduled around a time that is mutually convenient for the minister and the communicant. Volunteers are invited to serve on a regular schedule or as a substitute minister. Fr. Rick is also available for home visits, confessions, Communion and the Sacrament of the Sick (Anointing). Please contact the office to schedule a visit.
Respect Life Group – Members of this ministry are engaged in supporting the dignity of the human person and therefore the gift of every person’s life. Some of the activities include collecting infant clothing and other items needed for newborns and their mothers for Mary’s Corner, Birthright and Maternity Services in Albany.
Senior Soup Meals - This ministry of the Hospitality Committee offers complimentary soups (salads in the Summer) to seniors in our community every 1st Friday of the month. If you are interested in preparing soups and/or salads for this ministry, please contact Peggy McQuade at [email protected] or at (518) 765-2805 Ext. 14.
Walking with Moms in Need - Walking with Moms in Need is a process through which Catholic parishes and communities "walk in the shoes" of local pregnant and parenting women in need. Everyone should know how to help moms in difficult circumstances. While not trying to turn Catholic parishes into pregnancy centers, we can support local pregnancy centers where they exist and we can also find and share other resources with pregnant and parenting women. St. Matthew's, Christ the King and St. Thomas Parishes have joined efforts to work together to help Moms in Need. For more information, please contact Louise Schrecongost at St. Thomas the Apostle Church at (518) 439-4951.
Alzheimer Care Team - Eddy Alzheimer’s Services is proud to sponsor a Care Team at St. Matthew’s. They provide the training for all volunteers. Members of the care team provide social support to individuals and families living with Alzheimer’s disease or other memory impairment disorders.
Family Promise – St. Matthew’s Church serves as a host site for families served by Family Promise of the Capital Region. Family Promise serves homeless families, helping them obtain the services needed to obtain permanent housing, healthcare and jobs. Guest families are welcomed and housed overnight approximately four weeks per year for a week at a time at St. Matthew’s. Volunteer opportunities include: set up or take down of the overnight facilities, meal preparation, an overnight stay, and activity organization.
Hospitality – St. Matthew's is known for its charism of hospitality, striving to provide a warm and welcoming environment to all parishioners and guests. Members of this ministry support these efforts by providing essential services such as meal preparation, set up, and clean up at various community events sponsored by our church. Some of the events this ministry supports are the Simple Soup Suppers during Lent, coffee hour receptions held after Mass, and the Annual St. Matthew’s Day Parish Picnic.
Men’s Association – St. Matthew’s Men’s Association is an organization of parishioners that perform services for the parish and provide financial support for various activities in the parish. The group meets monthly at St. Matthew’s.
Pastoral Care Team – Visiting the housebound elderly and the chronically and terminally ill is no easy task, but our mere presence, as someone willing to be a friend and a listening ear, can mean much more than we can imagine. Parish volunteers, under the guidance of Diane Malinowski Dunston, are available to make home visits and bring Communion to people in their homes, assisted living facilities and the hospital. Members of the Pastoral Care Team provide emotional and spiritual support to persons in the St. Matthew’s community. This involves visiting those that are frail and housebound both to provide companionship and to bring the Eucharist to them. Visits are scheduled around a time that is mutually convenient for the minister and the communicant. Volunteers are invited to serve on a regular schedule or as a substitute minister. Fr. Rick is also available for home visits, confessions, Communion and the Sacrament of the Sick (Anointing). Please contact the office to schedule a visit.
Respect Life Group – Members of this ministry are engaged in supporting the dignity of the human person and therefore the gift of every person’s life. Some of the activities include collecting infant clothing and other items needed for newborns and their mothers for Mary’s Corner, Birthright and Maternity Services in Albany.
Senior Soup Meals - This ministry of the Hospitality Committee offers complimentary soups (salads in the Summer) to seniors in our community every 1st Friday of the month. If you are interested in preparing soups and/or salads for this ministry, please contact Peggy McQuade at [email protected] or at (518) 765-2805 Ext. 14.
Walking with Moms in Need - Walking with Moms in Need is a process through which Catholic parishes and communities "walk in the shoes" of local pregnant and parenting women in need. Everyone should know how to help moms in difficult circumstances. While not trying to turn Catholic parishes into pregnancy centers, we can support local pregnancy centers where they exist and we can also find and share other resources with pregnant and parenting women. St. Matthew's, Christ the King and St. Thomas Parishes have joined efforts to work together to help Moms in Need. For more information, please contact Louise Schrecongost at St. Thomas the Apostle Church at (518) 439-4951.