Faith Formation is an ongoing, continuous pursuit:
we’re all on a life-long journey of faith (and learning)!
Are you ready to discover more, or to develop your faith? Are you yearning to deepen your relationship with Jesus and our community? Please check out our many offerings and consider joining one, or more! We strive to include something for everyone!
If you are interested in becoming Catholic, or in completing the Sacraments of Initiation as an adult, you can find out about the OCIA by clicking HERE or by emailing Rachel Willoughby at rachelw@stmatthewcatholic.org.
CLASS AND EVENT REGISTRATION:
If you are interested in participating in one of our classes or events, please see below for the current and upcoming offerings. Registrations can be submitted as follows:
- online with a credit card: click on the image of the class and you will be redirected to Faith Direct. You may check out as a guest without creating a Faith Direct account, should you so desire. If troubles come up with Faith Direct, please contact them directly so that they can assist you in completing your registration.
- in person: complete a paper registration in the Saint Matthew church office and pay by cash or check (we are only able to take credit or debit payments with online registrations at this time).
CLASSES CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS:
Follow Me: Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John
WAXHAW CAMPUS
April 24th- June 19th
Wednesdays
10:00-Noon
The Mystery of God: Who God is and Why He Matters
Tuesdays
June 4th-18th, July 9th-23rd
7:00-8:30pm
Room: NLC 239/240/241
UPCOMING PROGRAM
33 Days to Morning Glory: Preparation for Marian Consecration
An Extraordinary 33-day journey to Marian Consecration with four giants of Marian Spirituality: St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Blessed Pope John Paul II. Fr. Gaitley masterfully summarizes their teaching, making it easy to grasp and simple enough to put into practice. More specifically, he weaves their thoughts into a user-friendly, do-it-yourself retreat that will bless even the busiest of people. So, if you’ve been thinking about entrusting yourself to Mary for the first time or if you’re simply looking to deepen and renew your devotion to her, 33 Days to Morning Glory is the right book to read and the perfect retreat to make.
Thursday Mornings
July 11th-Aug. 15th
10:00am-11:00am
Room: NLC 239/240/24
Facilitator: Rachel Willoughby
Cost: $17
ACTS: THE SPREAD OF THE KINGDOM
ACTS: THE SPREAD OF THE KINGDOM… is the story of how a few Christians, empowered by the Holy Spirit, were chosen to bring Christ and the Good News to the ends of the earth. They faced secular forces, internal strife, and hostile crowds, and despite all of this, they brought the kingdom of God to a broken world and the love of God to the hearts of men. Acts: The Spread of the Kingdom traces how the gospel witness spread outward in waves from Jerusalem, and reveals how the seeds of Church structure and authority took root. Presenter Jeff Cavins shows how the joys and struggles of the early Christians in living the life of Christ apply to us today. Acts: The Spread of the Kingdom will help you to see your place in the Church as a disciple of Christ.
Monday Evenings
Sept. 9th-March 17th
7:00-8:30pm
Room: NLC 234/235
Facilitator: Karen Rubbo
Cost: $35.00
THE BIBLE TIMELINE
The Bible Timeline® study program takes you on a guided journey through salvation history. Presenter Jeff Cavins will show you how fourteen of the Bible’s narrative books tell the biblical story from beginning to end and will give you the keys to understanding the amazing story woven throughout Scripture.
In this revolutionary approach to Bible study, The Bible Timeline divides the Bible into twelve color-coded time periods that make the narrative thread easier to follow. Using a unique color-coded chart, you will learn the major people, places, and events of the Bible and discover how they all come together to reveal the remarkable story of our Faith. The Bible Timeline will teach you how to read and understand the entire Bible and introduce you to the wonderful narrative of Scripture in a way that will transform your life.
Tuesday Evenings
Sept 10-Dec 17
7:00-8:30pm
Room: NLC 203
Facilitator: Ron Groover
Cost: $35
JESUS: THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE
Jesus: The Way, the Truth, and the Life… by Marcellino D’Ambrosio is a book of approximately 280 pages that stands alone but also accompanies the 10-week video study program presented by Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Jeff Cavins, and Edward Sri. In this book, Catholics walk step by step with Jesus from his infancy to the Ascension. Anchored in the life of Christ as presented in the Gospels, it explores the entirety of Jesus’ life—who he is, what he is really like, what he taught, what he did for our salvation, and what this means for us as Catholics today. This study shows, in a simple way, how Jesus, the Incarnate God, is both fully divine and fully human—his intimacy with the Father, his revelation of the Father’s love, and his extraordinary influence on his disciples, his followers, and even his enemies. Most importantly, this encounter with Christ will inspire and empower you to center your entire life in him as you come to know and love him in an ever-deeper and more intimate way.
Thursday Evenings
Sept 12-Nov 21
7:00-8:30pm
Room: NLC 239/240/241
Facilitator: Karen Rubbo
Cost: $28
REVELATIONS: THE KINGDOM YET TO COME
Revelations: The Kingdom Yet to Come…Perhaps no book of the Bible fascinates people more than Revelation. Yet relatively few people have studied it, especially from a Catholic perspective. Revelation: The Kingdom Yet to Come is an intriguing eleven-session study program that shows how the kingdom established by Christ in his Church is intimately connected with the kingdom of heaven. In this study, presenter Jeff Cavins pulls back the veil on the rich symbolism present in Revelation. Discover what the mysterious figures and images of Revelation mean and see how Revelation is more than an apocalyptic vision of the “end times.” Explore the Church’s teaching on the second coming of Christ and the Last Judgment. Understand how God, the Divine Bridegroom, and the Church, his spotless bride, enter into a heavenly, holy, and mystical marriage every time we celebrate Mass.
Tuesday Mornings
Sept 10-Dec 17
9:45-11:00am
Room: NLC 203
Facilitator: Ron Groover
Cost: $28
THE CATHOLIC FAITH AND SCIENCE
The Catholic Faith and Science… This course explores the scientific evidence for God as well as philosophical proofs of His existence, the historicity of Jesus‘s miracles and Resurrection, the reasons to be Catholic, why an all-loving God would allow suffering, and medical evidence for our transphysical soul.
Tuesday Evenings
Sept 17-Nov 19
7:00-8:30pm
Room: Banquet Room
Facilitator: Angie Jeffrey & Rachel Willoughby
Cost: TBD
CATHOLIC SCRIPTURE STUDY: MATTHEW
Catholic Scripture Study: Matthew… Scott Hahn, Mark Shea, and Fr. Matthew Kauth pull you into the world of this New Covenant with years of experience and insight. In 28 fascinating lessons with a 1,000+ verse exegesis, you will learn:
- Why the long genealogy from Matthew 1 is so important
- The strategy Jesus gave us to fight Satan in the deserts of our own lives
- How the Beatitudes are Heaven’s response to our earthly desires
We hear the Gospels so much at Mass that it can be hard to look at them with fresh eyes. In this study, however, you will read Matthew’s Gospel as you have never read it before—and in the process, come one step closer to knowing what a priceless gift we have in the Holy Spirit and the works He inspired.
Wednesday Mornings
Dates: TBD
10:00-Noon
Room: NLC 239/240/241
Facilitator: Terri DeMao
Cost: $47
CHURCH AND THE SECULAR WORLD THROUGH HISTORY
Church and the Secular World Through History…The historian James Hitchcock writes in his History of the Catholic Church (2012): “Left entirely to men, the Church ought to have perished at many points in her long history.” However, Christ has promised his protection of the Church for all time. This course will examine some of the more salient –and recurring— existential challenges that faced the Church throughout its history and its response –and God’s– to those challenges. These include, among other things, the Church’s struggles with the secular state, intellectual and scientific materialism as well as shifting societal trends from the Early Church to the present. The course will also touch upon how these struggles have helped shape the modern world.
Monday Evenings
Oct 7th- Nov. 11th
7:00-8:30pm
NCL 239/240/241
Facilitator: Joe McVeigh
FREE
Defend Your Faith
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15
If you have ever felt unable to give an answer for your faith, then this is the class for you. In this 8-week course, we will not only cover topics like: reasons for belief in God, the historicity of Jesus, how we can trust the Bible, and objections from Protestantism, but we will practice techniques and tactics to help you remain gentle, and respectful while grounded in Truth.
Join us at the…
Waxhaw Campus
September 25-November 20,
10am -12pm
Facilitator: Christine Corbly
Cost: $20
ONGOING PRAYER GROUPS/CLASSES:
Men’s Bible Group
Tuesdays, 7 to 8:30 pm
no fee
Develop fellowship as you delve into God’s Word and how to apply it to your daily life. Encourage and support each other as you reflect on the Scriptures. Join us starting Tuesday, July 26, from 7 to 8:30 pm in the New Life Center.
It’s recommended that you bring a Bible and a pen and notebook with you so you can really dive in to the Word of God.
RESOURCES AND MINISTRIES:
Living Your Strengths
Living Your Strengths is a ministry designed to help adults maximize their God-given talents in all aspects of life – personal, professional, and spiritual.
So often we are told that to be successful and achieve our goals we need to stop doing this, or start doing that, or work on improving our weaknesses. What if we shifted our focus and started concentrating on doing more of what we are good at doing, and using our limited time and energy to develop our talents and strengths? Who did God plan for YOU to be? See below for the lineup of Strengths offerings available at St. Matthew! No prerequisites, except to take the assessment and discover your Top Five. The ministry uses Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder®, an online assessment tool, as the starting point.
COMING IN JANUARY 2023: Living Your Strengths One Day Workshop (2 options)
OPTION 1 – NEW TO LIVING YOUR STRENGTHS
Saturday January 7, 2023
9 am – 4 pm
Cost: $40.00
New Life Center Banquet Room
*** Registration includes the Living Your Strengths book, the Top Five Clifton Strengths assessment and lunch.
REGISTER HERE
OPTION 2 – REFRESH/DIVE DEEPER
Saturday January 7, 2023
9 am – 4 pm
Cost: $20.00
New Life Center Banquet Room
*** Registration includes workshop day activities and lunch.
REGISTER HERE
STRENGTHS EXPLORATION
Sign up during our annual regularly scheduled offerings or form your own small group and contact us!
Strengths Exploration is a six-week, 90 minutes per week, small-group program designed to help you discover your God-given talents and begin to shift your focus away from fixing your weaknesses. Participants learn to start spending time and energy on doing more of what they are good at doing. With the guidance of trained facilitators, groups begin by exploring each individual’s CliftonStrengths top talent themes—their regular patterns of behavior—and determine how to apply these talents in their personal, professional and spiritual lives to fulfill God’s purpose for each. Positive and uplifting. Sessions typically commence during January and September. Watch the bulletin for more information, or email: lys@stmatthewministries.org.
STRENGTHS COACHING
Strengths Coaches are available for free one-on-one sessions to help you to set goals and apply your God-given talents and strengths. People typically meet once or twice with a coach, to receive guidance on further understanding of the results of the CliftonStrengths assessment, and embrace and unleash their potential in life. Coaching is one of the elements of the Exploration sessions, but we also encourage anyone who has taken the assessment to meet with a coach. Taking the CliftonStrengths assessment (see above) is required to participate. Find the list of Strengths Coaches Bios and contact one of your choice.
To find out about dates of the next offerings, to volunteer or to ask a question, contact:
Valerie Menzel, 862-668-1707 or Leanne Burnett, 704-241-4081, or email lys@stmatthewministries.org.
Young Adult Ministry
Young Adult Life Ministry provides young adults (20s–30s) single or married opportunities to grow in their faith and be active in the St. Matthew community through spiritual, service, and social activities. We welcome all young adults, members or non-members of St. Matthew, to join us for our events.
Email Rachel at rachelw@stmatthewcatholic.org to get connected!
Moving On After Moving In
We welcome ladies new to the area and invite you to join our upcoming nine-week study of God’s role and love in the process of your moving transition.
Are you struggling to get your family settled and the kids in a new routine? Do you want to meet other women who may feel a loss of identity due to their moves? Are you yearning for an answer as to why God has brought you to this new place?
Our team will embrace and encourage you as we read the book After the Boxes Are Unpacked: Moving On After Moving In by Susan Miller. This book and the weekly discussions serve as a vehicle for personal, spiritual and communal growth and support. The $20 cost covers the books and materials for this study. The study is on Wednesdays, January 25 through March 22 2023, from 9:30 to 11 am.
For more information, email Becky Malinowski at welcomeministries@gmail.com.
To register, please click HERE