St. Matthew > Faith Formation > Adult Faith Formation

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 Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults 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:





The Bible Timeline:
The Story of Salvation

 Ron Groover
Tuesdays
Sept. 12 to March 24
9:45 to 11 am

Jesus The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Jan. 22- March 25 

NCL 234/235 

 Mondays 

7:00pm-8:30pm

Lenten Study: Made for Heaven

Feb. 15th until March 21st, Ballantyne Campus

Thursdays

9:45-10:45 am in the banquet room

OR

Feb 12th until March 18th, Ballantyne Campus

                            Mondays

                           7:00-8:00pm

Additionally, the study will be held at the Waxhaw campus:

Feb. 14th until March 27th

Wednesdays

10am-Noon.

 

The Eucharist: The Heart of the Christian Life

Jan. 24- April 24 (no class Easter Week) 

NLC 239/240/241 

Wednesdays  

10:00 am- Noon  

 


UPCOMING PROGRAMS


ONGOING PRAYER GROUPS/CLASSES:

The Catechism in a Year

Rachel Willoughby
Thursdays

7 to 8:00 pm
Free

Our last two meetings are on:
November 2, 2023
December 7, 2023

Father Mike Schmitz hosts this new podcast and walks you through reading the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church in 365 days.

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.

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina is not currently meeting.
We hope to recommence at some point in the future.

In the meantime, you can pray with Lectio Divina at home or in a group with friends and spiritual companions. Lectio Divina is a method of reading, meditating on, and praying with the Sacred Scriptures. We will come together as a group to read and meditate on the readings for the upcoming Sunday and prepare together to receive the many gifts that God desires to give us each week through his Word.


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