Leagues & Guilds at St. Matthew's

Altar Guild

The Episcopal Church of St. Matthew
© 2006 Steve Whittaker

The Altar Guild prepares the church for all services as directed by the clergy. Duties include flower arranging, preparing and cleansing the communion sets, laundering and ironing the linens, polishing brass and silver, laying out and care of vestments, filling candles and other tasks that may be needed for special services.

Members serve two two-week duty periods each quarter. All members help with decorating the church for Christmas and Easter. Meetings are held the second Sunday every other month. New members are trained under the direction of the Training Chairperson.

Service on the Guild provides the privilege of serving God in his sacristy and sanctuary. The personal satisfaction of this privilege cannot be described or measured.

Altar Flowers

Altar flowers are provided to the Altar Guild for service arrangement by various organizations, families and individuals. Donations toward the provision of Altar flowers may be given in memory of a loved one or just to glorify our Lord.

Daughters of the King

The Order of the Daughters of the King is organized as a religious order. The mission of our Order is the extension of Christ's Kingdom through Prayer, Service and Evangelism. Our members are women who are communicants of the Episcopal Church, churches in communion with it, and churches in the Historic Episcopate. Each Daughter makes a life-long vow to live by the Rule of the Order which requires a spiritual discipline of daily prayer, service and evangelism, dedicated to the spread of Christ's Kingdom and the strengthening of the spiritual life of her parish. Because of our vow, we refer to ourselves as an Order, not an organization. Our bylaws prohibit us from raising funds.

Daughters of the King wear our crosses at all times as a outward and visible sign we cannot live without Christ in our lives. Our Order is a community of nurturing women accepting, all people, bridging differences and cherishing traditions.

We are a Christian women fulfilling the promises we made in our Baptismal Covenant:

To continue in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers.
To persevere in resisting evil, and when we fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.
To proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.
To seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as our self.
To strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.

We strive to create a "safe place" in a busy world where we can come together and support each other in Christ's love.

The St. Matthew Chapter of the Daughters of the King meet twice monthly at St. Charles House and all meetings are open to any woman of the parish. Our chapter offer two Quiet Days yearly, one during Advent and one during Lent. We will also be sponsoring contempletive candle light Taize Services several times a year as well as Prayer Walks and Drives throughout the Bay Area and we invite all members of our parish and the community to participate.

Men's League

The Men's League is open to all men in the church, young and old. Its purpose is "to provide a forum for fellowship, spiritual growth, personal learning and service." It accomplishes these goals by:

Promoting Christian fellowship through regular gatherings, social events and shared projects

Providing a forum for education through personal interaction, programs and discussion of issues of faith and God's work in the world

Serving as one of several arms of outreach of St. Matthews promoting direct action and conducting special fundraising projects to benefit the needy

The Men's League meets on the second Tuesday of each month for dinner, a short business meeting and a program. Programs of general interest are open to any member of the congregation as well as guests of members, newcomers or visitors.

For further information browse the following links:

How to Join

Outreach Activities

Service Opportunities

By-Laws

League for Service

St. Matthew's League for Service, the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) of St. Matthew's, includes all women of the parish and encourages them to engage in our ministries and outreach programs to support God's project of transforming the world into a place of peace.

On a practical note, the League for Service is organized into three sections, Christian Social Relations (CSR), and St. Catherine's and St. Dorothy's sections. Each section meets once a month, with St. Catherine's meeting in the evening so that working women of the parish can participate (fourth Monday). St. Dorothy's section and CSR meet during the day (third Thursday). Each section has its unique blend of worship, fellowship, fun and far from least, outreach projects, and each section participates as members of the League in many parish activities. The League's Coffee Hour chair schedules the parish coffee hours after the 10 AM service, with each section hosting one Sunday, the Men's League hosting the odd fifth Sunday and other groups encouraged to host the first Sunday of each month. Other events, such as the annual Mardi Gras dinner and auction, the annual parish picnic, and the Fourth of July celebration, as well as special events such as welcoming new clergy and so on, are also heavily supported by the League - and everyone has a wonderful time of fellowship, creativity and fun in working on these parish projects.

The Thrift Shop is the principal fund-raising program of the League and through its operation we have given over $30,000 a year to Peninsula-based charities as well as to special projects within the church including the restoration of the organ and of the stained glass windows in the church, gifts of Books of Common Prayer to the confirmation class, and many others.

Each section also has its own fundraising and outreach missions. For example, St. Catherine's focuses its effort on providing support to victims of domestic violence through the Shelter Network Bridges program and in general to women in need, and all sections contribute to alleviating hunger and homelessness in the Bay area, but particularly on the peninsula and in our local communities. Two sections now host baby showers for St. Luke's Hospital where there is a large population of indigent mothers with no layettes for their babies.

Other League and section activities include organized retreats for the section or for the women of St. Matthew's, assistance with the Day School Foundation's programs, especially the Dickens House, and many others.

All sections look for new ideas, and creative and willing members to support and enhance their programs. Participation by all women of St. Matthew's is encouraged - indeed urged. There is a section and a meeting time that will be right for you. Check the Sunday bulletin for the right contact, or pick up a League brochure at the back of the church and call the section contact, or e-mail Elizabeth Weatherby, the League president, for more information (libetts@pacbell.net). You, as a woman at St. Matthew's are already a member if you pledge and are a regular communicant. Come participate!