Outreach/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.
Ministry to Families with Young Children - This ministry serves and supports our parish families with small children (infants through preschool aged children) via three areas of focus: 1) Worship 2) Faith Formation and 3) Welcome, connection and support. Ministry team members meet monthly and participate in related initiatives.
Parish Nurse - A parish nurse acts as a vital link between the faith and medical communities. He/she is an educator, providing programs such as health screenings and illness prevention; a counselor, organizing support groups and finding resources and making referrals to agencies and support services; and an advocate, assisting with navigation through healthcare services. One role a parish nurses does not play is that of direct medical care provider.
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. 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.
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.
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.
Ministry to Families with Young Children - This ministry serves and supports our parish families with small children (infants through preschool aged children) via three areas of focus: 1) Worship 2) Faith Formation and 3) Welcome, connection and support. Ministry team members meet monthly and participate in related initiatives.
Parish Nurse - A parish nurse acts as a vital link between the faith and medical communities. He/she is an educator, providing programs such as health screenings and illness prevention; a counselor, organizing support groups and finding resources and making referrals to agencies and support services; and an advocate, assisting with navigation through healthcare services. One role a parish nurses does not play is that of direct medical care provider.
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. 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.
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.