By becoming a Matthew 25 church, we are committing to act boldly and compassionately to serve people who are hungry, oppressed, imprisoned or poor.
The Matthew 25 Initiative is designed to bring about what an initiative brochure calls “radical and fearless discipleship” among congregations and mid councils by engaging in three targeted missions: building congregational vitality, dismantling systemic poverty and eradicating structural racism.
The initiative is designed in part to help make the denomination more relevant. “We rejoice,” the initiative states, “how our re-energized faith can unite all Presbyterians for a common and holy purpose.”
The initiative aims to multiply the number of churches already engaged in Matthew 25 work around the three focus areas in these ways:
- 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 systemic poverty by working to change laws, policies, plans and structures in our society that perpetuate economic exploitation of people who are poor.
- Eradicating 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.
The goal for the national church is “to be a clearinghouse of resources, training materials, devotional and preaching aids, success stories, curricula and more,” the initiative states, “everything to help you strengthen relationships, transform your church, and bring alive your commitment to ‘serve the least of these’ in your community and around the world.”Individual congregations can do their part “as you live out your commitment” by telling their stories “so we can share them with the wider church and continue to fan the flame of our common mission.”To understand more of what the Matthew 25 Initiative is, click on the picture.