The Reverend Bob Hardman leads the Befriender's ministry at St. Matthew's.  Befrienders are individuals who volunteer to visit on a regular basis parishioners who are elderly, ill, or in crisis.  Bob offers the case for Befriender's ministry:

"The question may arise Why Befriender's?  The question was addressed to me once while I was chaplain at the Episcopal Church Home.  I did a survey of clergy of the Diocese and found that on the average clergy visited twice a year, people who were aged.  In other denominations, people who were aging in nursing homes were dropped completely from church roles a month after they went into a nursing home.  Is this the way we want our church to remember its elderly?  Hopefully not. We are a relational body and we need people to keep us in touch with  the body, called the church.  Those people are Befriender's.  The Befriender's fill a supportive role in being in relationship with those in need.  I once met a lady, Lydia, who kept in touch with her confirmation class until she was in her 90's.  Imagine what they did for her.  To have the prayers of persons who care and to study the Bible until you were 96 ?  What a blessing! 

Here at St Matthew's we have a Eucharistic Ministry, in which those who cannot come to the table are fed with God's holy food on Sunday.  We have a Food Ministry, in which those who recently have had surgery and are home and need the help of a home cooked meal.  And now we have a Befriender's Ministry to keep in touch with those who cannot come to church, or are in crisis, or just need a friend.  In this way we can hopefully minister to the total person and keep them in our prayers and ministry as part of the ongoing life of St. Matthew's."

St. Matthew's Befriender's do not start their ministry with just good intentions; they are given systematic training before starting. If you are interested in participating in the St. Matthew's Befriender's ministry, contact Bob Hardman.