St. Matthew's Reformed Episcopal Church
Church: 610-449-6267	West Chester Pike & Glen Gary Drive
Rectory: 610-642-2121	Havertown, PA 19083
DayCare: 610-449-2620

"Our fellow Christians of other branches of Christ's Church, and all who love our Divine Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in sincerity, are affectionately invited to the Lord's Table."

CLERGY:

Rev. Jon W. Abboud, Rector

Rev. Roderick S. Lee, Assistant to the Rector

SERVICES:

Sunday Morning Worship: 10:00am

Sunday School: 11:15am

(Holy Communion is celebrated the first Sunday of every month.)

YOUTH ACTIVITIES:

Fun Nite for Kindergartners to Second Graders: games, a craft, snack, and Bible story, usually the first or second Friday evening each month (7 to 9pm):

(Fall 2004- Spring 2005 schedule being updated)

Outings and Service Projects for Third Graders through Eighth Graders are arranged monthly. Contact the church office for specific times and locations. Parental help is requested for supervision, refreshments and transportation.

 

DAY CARE:

St Matthews Day Care accepts children from 3 months to five years of age. The Day Care is open from 7:00am to 5:30pm and has half and full day care options, as well as an afterschool program for kindergartners. Call 610-449-2620 and speak with Assistant Director Victoria Smith for more information.

 

LOCATION/DIRECTIONS:

We are located one half mile east of Exit 4 (Havertown/Broomall) of Interstate 476 (the "Blue Route"), on the south side of West Chester Pike (Rt. 3) at Glen Gary Road in Havertown. From Philadelphia, proceed west on Market Street past 69th Street until it merges into West Chester Pike, then 4 miles further west (2 miles past Rt. 1). Use the left turn at the light just after "The Shops at Manoa Center" (SuperFresh)..

DOCTRINE & PRACTICE:

St. Matthew's is a member of the Reformed Episcopal Church of North America.

St. Matthew's R.E. Church practices a Christian faith that is:

• Biblical: "The Reformed Episcopal Church, holding 'the faith once delivered unto the saints', declares its belief in:
  • the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God, and the sole Rule of Faith and Practice;
  • the Creed 'commonly called the Apostles' Creed';
  • the Divine institution of the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; and
  • the doctrines of grace substantially as they are set forth in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion." (Pr. I)
    
    
• Liturgical: "This Church, retaining a Liturgy which shall not be imperative or repressive of freedom in prayer, accepts The Book of Common Prayer as it was revised, proposed and recommended for use by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, A.D. 1785, reserving full liberty to alter, abridge, enlarge, and amend the same, as may seem most conducive to the edification of the people, 'provided that the substance of the faith be kept entire'." (Pr. III)
  
  
• Episcopal: We recognize the Threefold Orders (Diaconate, Presbyterate, and Episcopacy), "...not as of Divine right, but as a very ancient and desirable form of Church polity." (Pr. II)

In addition: "This Church condemns and rejects the following erroneous and strange doctrines as contrary to God's Word:

• First, That the Church of Christ exists only in one order or form of ecclesiastical polity;
• Second, That Christian Ministers are 'priests' in another sense than that in which all believers are a 'royal priesthood';
• Third, That the Lord's Table is an altar on which the oblation of the Body and Blood of Christ is offered anew to the Father;
• Fourth, That the Presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper is a presence in the elements of Bread and Wine;
• Fifth, That Regeneration is inseparably connected with Baptism." (Pr. IV)
  

  (From the Declaration of Principles of the Reformed Episcopal Church, adopted December 2, 1873)

LINKS:

Reformed Episcopal Church: www.recus.org

History of Reformed Episcopal Church: www.recus.org/history.htm

Diocese of NorthEast and MidAtlantic of R.E. Church: rec-nema.home.att.net

Thirty Nine Articles of Religion: anglicansonline.org/basics/thirty-nine_articles.html

Books of Common Prayer: justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/

Questions/Comments? Email us at: StMatts@aol.com

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