Vicky Allen talks about her St. Matthew's experience on Sunday, November 8: 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services.
“For I was a stranger, and you took me in.” Matthew 25
I am delighted to talk about our wonderful church to all of you. Just a few years ago, I sold the lovely house in Tarrytown where my late husband and I had lived and moved up north. My friends were horrified! “How will you be able to stand it? Where will you make friends up there? Where is it exactly? You love the opera, the Met, the Philharmonic. How will you get there? How will you get to work in Greenwich and to your Manhattanville lectures? It snows all the time!”
Well, I stand here today, happy to tell you that I’ve made new friends and that I still go to Tarrytown to see my old friends, and that I still have my Philharmonic series and that I go to the Met frequently: the best of all possible worlds.
It took a lot of searching for the right Episcopal church: just ask me, and I’ll give you all the lowdown on the places I visited, but I’m here to stay.
I will never forget my first visit to St. Matthew’s. This was the last church on my list. It was a lovely October day. A lifelong Episcopalian, I thought, “Well, if this church doesn’t work out, I guess I’ll just read the Book of Common Prayer alone at home.”
The church looked so pretty from the road that I came to visit it on a Monday afternoon, and Dede Persina (let me name names!) was on duty at the desk. You’d have thought I was a long lost relative, for she took me all over the church, the fellowship room, the kitchen, even the rest rooms! Everywhere. She ended the tour with a confident: “I’ll see you on Sunday.”
I came to the 10 a.m. service that Sunday, and went to coffee hour, my heart in my throat at a roomful of 100 or so strangers, and was again greeted warmly, stuffed with goodies, handed a cup (a real cup!) of tea and welcomed. The next week, the Welcome Commission called me. They were so welcoming that at the end of the conversation, I said “I’d love to serve on your committee” and I wasn’t even a member of the church yet!
My friendships grew. I joined the Wednesday Bible study, where we are a close and caring group, bonded over Holy Communion, prayer, our studies and the stories of our lives. I became a lay reader and a Eucharistic minister, both of which I had done in past years at other Episcopal churches.
But most important of all, when I look at each one of you, I see people who, by their witness and example, have been warm in their welcome to me personally, and more important, have each played important roles in making this wonderful community the beautiful and Christ centered place it is. Without even one of you, this church would not be the same. I can’t speak warmly enough about St. Matthew’s, its people and its mission to make Christ Jesus known in the world.
YOU are our Church: Terry, Susan, Danny, whose warmth, support and kindness are evident every day. Our beautiful music, our choir, our Sunday school, whose children’s services I conduct from time to time and who make me happy all week long, and you, our congregation, who make up this jewel of a church.
Let’s keep on supporting our church and each other. Times and life can be very tough, but when we have each other, we’re safe! God bless each one of us and may He keep us always in His loving hands.
New to the area? WELCOME TO ST. MATTHEW'S!
