Matthew 25 Initiative
The session voted in April 2021 to have our church become a Matthew 25 congregation, becoming a part of a national initiative by our denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA). Click here for the bible passage on which it is based and click here for more information on this national initiative.
The Matthew 25 Initiative has three areas of focus:
- Building congregational vitality by challenging people and congregations to deepen their faith and get actively and joyfully engaged with their community and the world.
- Dismantling structural racism by advocating and acting to break down the systems, practices and thinking that underlie discrimination, bias, prejudice and oppression of people of color.
- Eradicating systemic poverty by working to change laws, policies, plans and structures in our society that perpetuate economic exploitation of people who are poor.
As we strive to address these complex issues, we will engage in learning and action together. I hope you will join us on this faith journey!
As we focus on eradicating systemic poverty, we are committed to increasing affordable housing in our community. In particular, we are working with a non-profit developer to bring Permanent Supportive Housing to Columbus. Click on the image below for a video about why we’re working on it.
Here are sermons Pastor Felipe preached in July 2021 on each of these three important topics:
On Building Congregational Vitality:
On Dismantling Structural Racism (a sermon preached together with Ant Blair)