On Tuesday, Feb. 21, St. Matthews will host its annual Shrove Tuesday pancake supper, beginning at 6 p.m.

The Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday is known as Pancake Day, or even Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), because it is a day in which those who observe the season of Lent consume pancakes as sugar, fat, flour and eggs as these items are traditionally restricted during the ritual fasting of the season.

An Ash Wednesday service will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 12:10 p.m. and mid-week services will continue through the season. Additionally, Lenten soup and book study will also take place Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m.

We invite you to join us, even if you are not a regular member of our church. You are always welcome at St. Matthews!

Pictured are, left to right, Rev. Deacon Richard Fletcher Jr., John and Dean Shoaf, Rev. Bill Ryan and Tim Sloan.

Pictured are, left to right, Rev. Deacon Richard Fletcher Jr., Cristi and Tommy Hill, Rev. Bill Ryan and Tim Sloan.

Each couple was presented the award for their dedication and service to the church since the 1950s and the 1980s, respectively.

Today our youth group began studying the Ten Commandments.

We listened to the Ten Commandment Boogie by the Go Fish Guys and began learning our own Ten Commandments song (to the tune of “Farmer in the Dell”):

“The first commandment says, the first commandment says, love God more than anyone, the first commandment says.”

Next week will learn “The second commandment says, the second commandment says, worship no one else but God, the second commandment says.” Additionally, today we casted our handprints in salt dough, to remind us God has ten rules for us, and next week we plan to paint our salt dough creations.

We will finish this unit just after Easter and we have plans to sing our commandments song (the Farmer in the Dell version, not the boogie version) to the rest of the congregation once we have learned all ten verses, then have an ice cream party to celebrate.

Congratulations to Richard Fletcher Jr., who was ordained to the diaconate at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Memphis on Saturday, January 14.

You can view photos from the event below:

Ordination of Richard Fletcher Jr.
By St. Matthew's Episcopal Church  |  View on Facebook

“Here we are, Lord, ready for your call!”

Members of St. Matthew's lay their hands upon Dick Fletcher in prayer before his ordination to the deaconate. (Photo by Echo Day)

Welcome to our new and improved website!

Due to an issue with a hacker, our former website had to be scrapped and rebuilt, bringing in a fresh new design as well as new photos and content. I hope you like the new design; if you have any questions or comments, please let me know!

This month we have a few exciting things happening: Dick Fletcher will be ordained to the deaconate, a new vestry will be elected and our church directory will be released (early February).

Fletch’s ordination will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14 at St. Mary’s Cathedral (692 Poplar Ave., Memphis). Members of St. Matthew’s will be responsible for bringing cookies for the reception following the service, so if you will be attending, please help us provide sweet treats.

On Sunday, Jan. 29, the annual meeting will take place following our regular service. It will be during this meeting that we will elect three new vestry members to take on the positions that will be vacated by Tommy Hill, Mary Dell Boyd and Tim Sloan. If you are interested in serving or wish to recommend someone, please let a current member of the vestry know. (Vestry members: we will have a meeting on Sunday, Jan. 22 following the service.) All members are invited and encouraged to attend.

Following the election of new vestry members, the 2012 church directory will be published in early February. The 20-page guide will be full-color and will feature photos of St. Matthews’ families as well as addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, the church history and other resources. We will let you know when these are available!