Dear friend,
As we write to you, our prayer is that you are well and are managing as well as possible during this one for the history books time. The world is in crisis because of this pandemic. It is, for a season, changing how we live, work, play, interact, and worship. Many of you have asked about how to continue to support our church as we are called upon by our government health officials to practice “social distancing.”
First and foremost: Pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ.
- Pray for the world and all who are suffering because of this coronavirus:
for those who have contracted the virus and those (all of us) who are impacted by it. Ask for compassion, mercy, and healing. For those who have experienced loss of life or livelihood ask for consolation and relief.
- Pray for the health care providers: from doctors and nurses to orderlies and maintenance personnel.
- Pray for the administrators of hospitals as they desperately work to secure the things needed to provide care for all their patients and their personnel.
- Pray for our government leaders from local and state to federal.
- Pray for our President and those advising him.
- Pray for our state governors.
- Pray for the leaders of all nations asking for God’s guidance and the collaboration of all leaders and medical researchers to overcome this virus.
- Pray for consolation for those grieving lost in the wake of this disease.
We are filled with gratitude for the support that you continue to offer to St. Matthew, through your prayers and gifts and offerings. All of these will enable us to continue our ministries in and throughout the congregation and community. Although we are not physically gathering each week, we are doing our best to stay in touch, especially with our seniors.
We are very grateful for the faithful response of continuing to mail or drop off tithes and offerings. Pastor Jim asks that since the office will not be occupied on a regular basis, both he and Rachel are currently working from home, there will be no one to accept an offering at the office.
There are three ways to make your offering or tithe to St. Matthew.
United States Postal Service (USPS)
We ask that you mail your offering, if you so choose, through the US Postal Service. And please, do not use the street address of the church. The mailbox is vulnerable to pilfering. If you decide to use the Postal Service, please address the envelope to the following address:
St. Matthew United Methodist Church
P.O. Box 49
Weston, WV 26452
Online Service: Tithe.ly
For convenience, we have set up an online option through our Facebook page:
St. Matthew United Methodist Church Weston WV
or via our website at www.stmatthewweston.org and click on “Online Giving.”
This option is called Tithe.ly. It is a reputable and secure service that over 10,000 churches have been using for a number of years. By clicking on the “link button” on our Facebook page you may send your offering directly to St. Matthew’s banking account using your credit or debit card. The only charge that will be assessed, will be a charge deducted from each transaction. The charge incurred will amount to about 3% of the amount of the transaction. Again, these are trying times, and we have set this up as an option of convenience to help you continue to support the ministries of St. Matthew.
Bill Pay (through your local bank)
You may also inquire to see if your bank offers a “Bill Pay” option. If your bank does offer “Bill Pay,” you can set up St. Matthew as a regular payment you make. If you so choose, your bank will generate an electronic check and send it via USPS (United States Postal Service). Most banks don’t charge for this, and it even covers the postage.
If you have a specific designation(s) in your offering, please include that information in the memo/note section when completing the online bill payment transaction. And please follow up with our Financial Secretary, Rachel Smith, to ensure the designation was conveyed on the electronic check and/or Tithe.ly.