Welcome to St. Matthew's Riverside Website

Welcome to our Website! Be sure to scroll thru to the end and click on the various links. We'll change the music video from time to time.

St. Matthew's is a small, friendly, dedicated community of faith, witnessing to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and seeking ways to serve Him in Riverside and the surrounding community. We offer a traditional worship service, Bible-based preaching and teaching, Sunday School classes for children and adults, an active women's fellowship, monthly pot-luck dinners, Vacation Bible School, and other special activities. We are also a host site for Angel Food Ministries. You will find more information about these activities on this site.

St. Matthew's was founded in 1844, and is one of the oldest churches in continuous existence in the Kansas City area. (See more about our history below.)

Whether you are a new resident of the Riverside area or are just seeking a church home, we invite you to consider St. Matthew's.

Every Sunday:
Sunday School 9:30-10:15 a.m. (kids & adults)
Worship 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Children's Church: 10:45-11:30 a.m.
Time of fellowship: 11:30 -

1st Sunday of each month - *Communion; Food Pantry Sunday. All food items donated are used to help persons and families in need or given to a local food pantry for that purpose.
*We celebrate the Lord's Supper (communion) on the first Sunday of each month. All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are invited to partake. We offer grape juice (white) and wine (red).

2nd Sunday of each month- "Blood Pressure Sunday" (see Parish Nurse article below).

Friday, June 5 was the last Acoustical Jam of the season. It will start again the 1st Friday evening of October 7-10 p.m.

We had a successful and wonderful Vacation Bible School June 29-July 2! We'll be posting details soon.

15 people attended our church trip to the Royals game on July 5. It was a great time, perfect weather, and the Royals won!

COMING UP:

Sunday, July 12, Sacrament of Baptism during worship, Angel Food Deadline

Wednesday, July 15, Women's Fellowship/Quilting, 6 p.m.

Sunday, July 19, Sermon by guest speaker Darrell Treat; Pot Luck Dinner following worship.

Sat. July 25, Angel Food Distribution. Other churches will be picking from the truck in our parking lot [time will be published as soon as we know); check back for time for pickup (probably between 10 and 11:30). It's also church cleaning day 9:00-1:00.

Sunday, July 26, a member of Gideons International will participate in our service. August Angel Food menus will be available.

Wed., July 29, Angel Food Order Night 7-8 p.m.
Wed., Aug. 5, Angel Food Order Night 7-8 p.m.
Wed. Aug. 12, Consistory 6 p.m.; Angel Food Orders 7-8 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 16, Witness Band will perform during the worship hour. We will have a barbeque following worship. Meat will be provided - pot luck for the rest. Angel Food deadline.

Wed. Aug 19, Womens Fellowship/Quilting 6-8 p.m.

Stretch your food dollars with Angel Food! For information about ordering food through the Angel Food Ministries program at our church please click HERE

Our curriculum is the Understanding the Bible series published by David C. Cook. Our current study book is "While We're Waiting," a study of 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, and Jude.

July 5 - Intro to Jude & Lesson #12, p. 95. Read Jude 1-10
July 12 - Lesson #13, p. 105. Read Jude 11-25

July 19 - We will start a new series on Joel, Jonah, Amos, Hosea & Micah. The study books will be available on the 19th. Read the book of Joel to prepare for the first lesson!

The Women's Fellowship meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 6-8 p.m. Our on-going project is making lap-size quilts, chemo hats, masectomy pillows, etc. and donating them to nursing homes, hospitals, etc. We also have a Ladies' Tea a couple of times a year - Spring and Christmas. Each year the Women's Fellowship hosts our Annual Turkey Dinner and Bazaar (Nov.), which is a fund raiser for the church.

At our meeting on Feb. 18, 2009 the following officers were elected: Jo K. President and Sharon K. Secretary/Treasurer.

23 ladies attended our Spring Tea on May 7. We had a fantastic time!

The ladies are now planning an old-fashioned cookbook for our church's 165th anniversary celebration in October. Contributions of recipes and old-fashioned housekeeping hints are welcome!

Jo K. is our Parish Nurse. Jo will take your blood pressure and/or confidentially discuss with you any health concerns you may have or provide information on health issues. The 2nd Sunday of the month is designated "blood pressure Sunday," but she will be glad to take your blood pressure at other times.

In Sunday School on Nov. 9, Jo taught the children how to avoid spreading germs during the cold and flu season. She used balloons and confetti to demonstrate, in a fun way, how germs are spread with sneezes.

During the Annual Turkey Dinner on Nov. 15, Jo conducted eye screenings for macular degeneration and glaucoma.

Scriptures are read each week from the NIV translation of the Bible. We encourage everyone to silently read along from the pew bibles. Pastor Elliott's sermon each Sunday will generally be based on one or more of the scripture texts for that day. The Psalm is read as a responsive reading.

July 5 II Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; Psalm 48; II Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13

July 12 II Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19; Psalm 24; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29

July 19 II Samuel 7:1-14a; Psalm 89:20-37; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

July 26 II Samuel 11:1-15; Psalm 14; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21

Aug 2 II Samuel 11:26-12:13a; Psalm 51:1-12; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35

Aug 9 II Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51

Aug 16 I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Psalm 111; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58

Aug 23 I Kings 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69

Aug 30 Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 72; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

These beautiful plantings are the result of the hard work and creativity of Helen H. Last year (2008), with the help of Mary Lou B., Helen cleaned out the area under the big stained glass window and planted these beautiful "knock-out" roses and other flowers and plants. By the middle of May 2009 they were beautifully blooming again.

Other projects over the last several years that improve the appearance and function of the church building include the repainting of the church, new protective coverings for the stained glass windows, new front doors (painted red again), a new roof, and a new handicap ramp and handrails.

"I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord." Psalm 122:1.

1844 was the year of the great flood. In June, the Missouri River spread from bluff to bluff. The water covered all but the highest ground in the bottoms. In such times, people always turn to God for guidance. As the waters receded, the people viewed the devastation of their homes and crops and, after prayerful consideration, determined to establish a church in the community. The church was organized the same year, and was originally called the German Evangelical Church. This was changed in 1851 to St. Peter's Evangelical Church. In 1865 the congregation was admitted to the Evangelical Synod of North America and the name was changed once more to St. Matthew's Evangelical Church. Later the name was changed to St. Matthew's Evangelical & Reformed Church. In 1957, with the merger of the Evangelical & Reformed and the Congregational denominations, the name of the church became St. Matthew's United Church of Christ but the church's doctrine and theology did not change. Now we are St. Matthew's Church of Riverside, dba St. Matthew's Evangelical, honoring our historical roots and scriptural values.

Our church, at that time known as St. Peter's Church, was first served by a circuit minister, the Rev. Conrad Heckman, who was born in Bissendorf, Germany and educated in Totterdam, Holland. In a letter of the day, he tells of his work:

"Though the weather has been stormy, and the rivers sometimes high, I have still been enabled to meet all the appointments in my widely extended circuit My heart feels grateful to God who has kept and guided me, and has given me such good health. I never supposed I could undergo such hardships; but God's promise has been verified, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.' I have administered the sacraments in all my appointments this quarter . . ."

God has "kept and guided" St Matthew's for 165 years. And while the weather has at times been "stormy," He reminds us still, "My grace is sufficient for thee."

If you are seeking a church home that combines warm Christian fellowship with sound biblical teaching, we invite you to consider St Matthew's. We would welcome your becoming a part of this fellowship today and a piece of its history tomorrow.

For another historical account about St. Matthew's, please click HERE. When you are finished, click your browser's "back" arrow to return to this website.

St. Matthew's has begun its 12th year hosting an "acoustical jam" on the first Friday evening of each month, October through June, from 7:00-10:00 p.m. Anywhere from 10 to 20 musicians come each time to play and sing for the audience to enjoy. Instruments include guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, bass, etc. We hear gospel, bluegrass, country, folk, rock and roll, etc., and have some laughs too. Everyone has a great time. At 8:30 we break for snacks (we always have a wonderful variety of goodies). We invite you to join us, whether you are a musician or a spectator! The next Jam will be the first Friday in October, 2009. We hope to see you then!

Our beautiful large stained glass window at the West end of the sanctuary, and the front of our sanctuary


Pastor Elliott, reenacting circuit riding minister arriving at church for our 160th anniversary celebration in October of 2004.

Steppingstone is a program of the Evangelical Children's Home that our church helps to support. Steppingstone serves young people age 16-21 who are at risk, homeless, etc. Steppingstone provides a safe place to live, educational assistance, life skills training, job placement coaching assistance, medical care, individual therapy, and case management. Helen H. is our representative to Steppingstone and she does a lot of volunteer work with them. Please click HERE for more information.

St. Matthew's is a small congregation and has very little resources to assist with financial emergencies, such rent, utilities, gasoline, etc. Please click HERE for the Northland Human Services/Senior Services Directory of resources available through various agencies and organizations.

St. Matthew's is a host site for Angel Food Ministries, which helps to stretch your food dollars. See the article on this website.