Parish Profile

St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church

Hillsborough, NC

Welcoming, Engaging, Grounded, Growing

Table of Contents

NOTE TO A FUTURE RECTOR…

THE MISSION AND VALUES THAT BRING US TOGETHER

WELCOMING Who we are Where we are

GROUNDED Interface of core values with Vestry and standing committees Financial health

ENGAGING What we offer

GROWING Honoring our past and looking to the future

OUR HOPES AND DREAMS

APPENDIX Discernment Questions

Diocese Information Helpful Links

NOTE TO A FUTURE RECTOR…

We welcome our new rector and new members to our lively and vibrant church in the lovely and historic

town of Hillsborough, NC. We have articulated our vision as a parish in our mission statement and in our

core values—this was a several year process, involving many members of our congregation. We open

our narrative by laying out our mission statement and core values, and then seek to show how we live

out this vision.

We look forward to working with you to expand and develop our values and mission together. We are

eager, too, to learn about your vision, and to work as co-creators in developing our congregation.

We share with you St. Matthew’s weekly prayer for a new Rector:

Loving God, as you bring us together as a united and hopeful congregation in seeking a new Rector,

grant us the wisdom to search patiently, listen carefully and act wisely in that search. Give us the

strength to be of one accord in our decision and to live in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and

forever. Amen.

THE MISSION AND VALUES THAT BRING US TOGETHER

We live as a community of faith that feeds God’s people from the abundance of God’s grace. Our soil is

rich and life-giving, and our roots run deep. God’s grace nourishes and inspires us to be a parish that is

Welcoming, Grounded, Engaging and Growing.

We welcome all those who enter our doors and are eager to show hospitality to each other and our

broader community.

We are grounded in our loving God, who creates, redeems, and sustains us and in our Christian faith,

our Episcopal tradition, and our parish heritage and sense of place. Our Core Values inspire us to

ministry through Worship, Fellowship, Service to Others, Education, Stewardship, Spiritual Practices,

Faith & the Arts, and our Heritage.

We engage with each other and make a difference in the world through our worship and prayers, and

our many and varied outreach ministries and programs. We partner with other churches and

organizations to fulfill Christ’s call to serve generously in his name.

We grow in our knowledge and love of God by intending to be a community of openness and

adaptability, love and compassion, creativity and beauty, careful listening and honest exploration of

faith. We are also growing physically, as our congregation flourishes.

Welcoming, Grounded, Engaging and Growing are intertwined expressions of our life together in

Christ that inspire us to ministry, and joyful, prayerful worship. We hope and trust that through our

life together in Christ, we embody and live out our core values and mission.

WELCOMING

We are a warm congregation and community and we welcome those

seeking spiritual renewal, prayer, belonging, and a place for safe haven.

Our multigenerational family is diverse in thought, background, talent

and interests, and we appreciate this diversity. We gladly share our

facilities and resources to support many outreach ministries and

community programs, and we partner with other churches and

organizations to fulfill Christ’s call to serve generously in His name. St.

Matthew’s has often been called Hillsborough’s “community church,”

and we hope to maintain and strengthen that tie by continuing to bring

people to St. Matthew’s for worship and other events, and by going

into the community to serve others.

St. Matthew’s historic buildings and grounds attract passing visitors,

new parishioners, and area clergy. The vitality of our worshipping

community, in response to our mission and vision, fills our sanctuary,

meeting rooms and campus, spills out to our neighbors and sustains us

as this particular body of Christ.

Who We Are

Congregation

We are people from many walks of life who have found and continue

to find comfort, spiritual renewal and a sense of purpose as members

of St. Matthew’s congregation. We live and work throughout the

Piedmont area yet experience a vital sense of homecoming at each

Eucharistic gathering in our church. St. Matthew’s currently has 354

members.

We are an open minded congregation, intellectually curious and willing to explore new ideas at our

weekly adult education hour (the Adult Forum), as well as in book discussions, bible study, and in every

committee. Compassionate and caring, we work on behalf of our parishioners, our larger community

and the world through many service opportunities. Serve One Another and the Shawl Ministry are some

of the ways we support each other in times of celebration and of need. We support and actively

participate in community ministries that provide food for those who are hungry, ecumenical ministry for

the incarcerated, and assistance with building or repairing homes for those in want of shelter. In the

broader world we support a medical mission to Armenia and donate money to the Episcopal Relief and

Development fund. Our young people have raised money to support ERD projects such as fresh water

wells and NetsforLife®.

Our most recognized stained glass window, the Angel of Praise window is a Tiffany glass window originally installed in 1899 (Photo by Alex Armstrong)

Our congregation’s energy, generosity of time and talent, and willingness to go the extra mile are

testaments to our dedication to do God’s work.

Staff

We are blessed with a staff who enjoy working collaboratively, in what they describe as a “holiness of

place”; most are active members of St. Matthew’s. We have grown a lot in 27 years. In 1990 we had a

rector and two part time staff members; in 2005 we hired our first part-time Assistant Rector. We

currently support seven part-time staff positions: the Assistant Rector, an Organist and Director of

Music, a Director of Christian Formation, a Parish Administrator, a Financial Secretary, a Caretaker for

Buildings & Grounds, and a Nursery Attendant. In addition to paid staff, we have dedicated volunteers

serving as a Lay Pastoral Care Leader, Treasurer, and Clerk to the Vestry. Over the years we have been

graced with two Deacons who assist with services and inspire outreach ministries, as well as many Duke

Divinity School Interns. We are also fortunate to have several Priest Associates who often serve as

teachers, preachers and celebrants in worship.

Where We Are

Hillsborough, North Carolina

Hillsborough is a vibrant small town of 7,300 people, situated slightly north of the Triangle (Raleigh,

Durham and Chapel Hill), in central North Carolina. Its proximity to Interstates 85 and 40 allows fast

access to nearby cities as well as to four major universities: University of North Carolina, N.C. State

University, North Carolina Central University, and Duke University. Hillsborough provides a congenial

home for university and medical center personnel, as well as authors, artists, crafts people, farmers - all

manner of folk! People meet and greet on sidewalks and porches, in restaurants and stores.

Hillsborough’s past goes back hundreds of years and includes a mix of Native American, Revolutionary,

and Civil War history. Today, Hillsborough offers much to enhance the lifestyle of its residents and to

entice visitors. Recreation, sporting and leisure options are numerous and varied. Fourteen restaurants

(some award winning), five art galleries, two museums, and many unique shops line the downtown

streets. Pubs, coffee shops, a wine store, a yarn store, an organic grocery store, a public library, two

book stores, a hardware store, and an artisan chocolate shop are all located a few blocks from each

other. St. Matthew’s and its rectory are within a five minute walk to the center of downtown. West

Hillsborough, a small and vibrant shopping area less than a mile from downtown Hillsborough, also

boasts several eating establishments.

The two mile paved Riverwalk Greenway lies parallel to the Eno River and connects Gold Park in West

Hillsborough to the Historic Occoneechee Speedway on the eastern boundary of town. It is ADA

accessible, and part of the North Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail. For a shorter stroll, also along the Eno

River, the one mile Poet’s Walk is an easy trail on the grounds of Ayr Mount, an 18th century historical

home open to visitors and used as an event venue. Many parks are dotted around town: the Exchange

Club Park, Fairview Park, Gold Park, and the Turnip Patch Park. Just outside the downtown area are the

Triangle Area Polo Club & Arena, Orange County Sportsplex, Occoneechee Mountain State Park,

Occoneechee Golf Club, and the Eno River State Park.

Schools in Hillsborough

Hillsborough has a wealth of excellent schools. A short walk from the rectory through St. Matthew's

churchyard is Cameron Park Elementary School, and the rectory is within its zone. Cameron Park

features a diverse school community of about 600 students and many active parents, teachers and

administrators. It also has a very high number of nationally board certified teachers. Just a five minute

drive up the road are Stanford Middle School and Orange High School, for which the rectory is also

zoned. In addition to its college prep program, Orange High is known for its agriculture program and

sports. Many students are also enrolled in a college partnership program with the Hillsborough campus

of Durham Tech, a local community college. The career and technical education classes at Orange High

build a Habitat House every year as part of their curriculum. Every public school in Orange County has a

nurse, social worker, counselor, and safety officer. Every elementary school has makerspace for coding

and robotics projects. There are also two STEM focused charter schools in the area: the Expedition

School, located in West Hillsborough, and Eno River Academy, which is just up the road from the rectory.

County Commissioners invest a lot of money in our schools, and voters recently passed a bond to

provide supplemental funds.

The Rectory

St. Matthew’s Rectory is a lovely historic home located on an attractive two acre parcel of land. Situated

across the street from the sanctuary and one block from the center of town, it is also within walking

distance of Cameron Park Elementary School. The Rectory has undergone several renovations over the

years, the most recent being a major kitchen renovation in 2007 and painting and floor refinishing in

2017. The Rectory grounds are maintained by the Church.

Size: Approximately 2800 square feet

First Floor:

Master bedroom and bath, powder room, kitchen, living room, den, dining room, enclosed sunroom,

utility/laundry room, large covered front porch, small back deck

Second Floor:

2 bedrooms and a full bath

Detached, small storage building behind Rectory

GROUNDED

We are spiritually grounded in our loving God, in our Christian faith, our Episcopal tradition, and our

parish heritage. Our nine core values provide organization for our Vestry, committee structure and

activities. In addition, we enjoy solid financial health, which allows us to pursue our mission and live out

our values.

Interface of Core Values with Vestry and Standing Committees

We are a nine person vestry; each vestry position links to one of our Core Value areas. Each Core Value

is represented by a standing committee. Our various other committees, task forces, and ministries (46

in total) are aligned to one of those standing committees. This facilitates collaboration and

communication across leadership and participant networks.

Education

- Sunday Morning Adult Forum

- Sunday Morning Bible Study

- Family Faith Formation

- Education for Ministry

- Adult Inquirers’ Class

- Nursery Volunteers

- Sunday Morning Children’s Classes

- Youth Group

Vestry

Heritage / Property

- Archives and History

- Cemetery Committee

- Churchyard Appearance Committee

- Fine Arts & Furnishing Committee

- Parish Workdays - Society of Junior Wardens

Administration

- Communications

- Finance Committee

- Office Support - Personnel Committee

- Vestry Service

Service to Others / Social Ministries

- Social Ministries Committee

- Alamance Orange Prison Ministry

- Fest - Orange Congregations in Mission

- Habitat For Humanity

- Food For All - Iglesia El Buen Pastor - Dickerson Chapel AME Partnership

- Honduras Medical Mission

- Racial Justice and Reconciliation

Worship & Spiritual Practice

- Acolytes

- Altar Guild

- Eucharistic Minister - Music

- Other Liturgical Leadership

- Women’s singing Circle

- Children’s Chapel

Service to Others / Pastoral Care

- Care and Discernment Groups

- Pastoral Care, Visitation, & Eucharistic Visitors

- Serve One Another - Shawl Ministry

- Brookshire Service

Holistic Stewardship

- Standing Stewardship Committee

- Annual Giving Campaign

- Health and Wholeness Ministry

Fellowship & Hospitality

- Coffee Hour - Greeting Ministry

- Ladies Night Out - Men’s Fellowship

- Parish Life Committee

- Newcomer Committee

- Receptions

Faith & the Arts

- Faith & the Arts Programs

Financial Health

Our fiscal heritage is one of meeting our annual budget with generous financial pledges and faithful fulfillment of those pledges. From 2007-2017, pledging grew 25% and the operating budget 21%. We self-fund our capital renovations and expansions and maintain a growing endowment fund. Our history of remaining debt free is a blessing!

Year ASA Pledging Units Pledged Amount Operating Rev

2014 189 164 $393,600 $449,400

2015 179 163 $377,000 $458,400

2016 179 166 $403,600 $460,600

2017 181 165 $425,100 $479,600

ENGAGING

We engage with our fellow parishioners and community as we seek to follow Christ’s call to nurture each other through worship, prayer, fellowship, education, formation, and care of one another.

What We Offer

Worship Services

We worship through various forms of the Episcopal Liturgy in the understated beauty of our sanctuary.

Currently we hold two regular services (Rite I and Rite II) on Sunday mornings and a Wednesday midday

Eucharist. Our Rite I service is quiet and reflective; Rite II a more traditional service with music. At

special times and occasions (e.g. Christmas) we enrich our worship through Evensong, Morning Prayer,

Lessons and Carols, and other services, such as Youth Sunday and Recovery Sunday.

Christian Education & Formation

The Director of Christian Formation oversees a vibrant education

program for children, youth, and adults. The current curriculum

includes Godly Play (grades 1-2), Growing in Christ (grades 3-5)

and ReForm (grades 6-12), Children’s Chapel, adult Bible study

and Adult Forum, Family Faith Formation, Education for Ministry

(EfM), and Youth Group. The Godly Play and Growing in Christ

children participate in a monthly choral offering at the 10:30

service.

Opportunities for Involvement

Forty-six committees, each related to one of our Core Values, express an active mutual ministry ethos.

Our committees are peopled with parishioners and staff, and enable a wide variety of ministries within

and outside of our congregation. Some examples are: Newcomer’s, Health & Wholeness, Serve One

Another, Shawl Ministry, Archives and History, Churchyard Appearance, Finance, Altar Guild, Prison

Ministry, and Racial Justice and Reconciliation Task Force.

Spiritual Expression and Growth through the Arts

Spiritual engagement through the arts is an integral part of St. Matthew’s worship and expression of

faith, and is part of our Faith & the Arts Core Value. The spiritual commitment shaping our music and

other artistic ministries touches hearts and souls during Sunday worship, ecumenical services, and

outreach activities.

St. Matthew’s has an excellent adult choir. Director of Music,

David Arcus, is a gifted musician, organist and teacher who

brought his 27 years of experience at Duke Chapel to our church

five years ago. On Saturday mornings, Dr. Arcus leads Voice for

Life, a program from the Royal School of Church Music that

encourages vocal exercise, singing technique, and music

notation to encourage a life-long love of music.

Faith and the Arts events bring a wide variety of talented local

musicians, songwriters, visual artists, poets, writers, filmmakers

and others to St. Matthew’s. Such artists open new paths of

experiencing and expressing God’s grace. Our Faith and the Arts

programs are attended by parishioners and non-members alike,

and connect us with our broader community which strongly

supports our events. In addition, the Women’s Singing Circle, a

non-denominational group of a capella singers, meets monthly

in the sanctuary.

Outreach Ministries & FeST

Our many artisans contribute to “FeST,” Festival of the Society Tree, an annual arts and crafts festival,

which both supports our social ministries and is connected to our history, as it honors the 19th century

Ladies Sewing Society of St. Matthew’s. This group of church women saved the church from neglect

after the Civil War by selling handmade fine needlework throughout the eastern seaboard. Our current

FeST is a compendium of handmade crafts, wreaths and greenery, home baked goods, and even dining

in the “Ordinary,” named after the early taverns in 18th and 19th century Hillsborough. Since its

inception ten years ago, FeST has been a success and earns several thousand dollars annually for our

numerous outreach ministries. It remains an anticipated event not only for St. Matthew’s, but for our

surrounding communities as well.

Interdenominational Worship and Hospitality

For the past two years, St. Matthew’s has participated in special Lenten services with five other

Hillsborough churches. This ministry grew out of a vision shared by our former rector and by Pastor

Donald Holman of Dickerson Chapel AME, our sister church in Hillsborough, with whom we celebrate a

combined congregational service on the months which have a 5th Sunday. Six churches in Hillsborough--

First Baptist, Hillsborough Presbyterian, Holy Family Catholic, Hillsborough Methodist, Dickerson Chapel

AME, and St. Matthew’s-- each hosted a noontime service during Lent, followed by a luncheon. The

packed churches and fellowship halls bore witness to the desire for shared worship among members of

Hillsborough congregations.

GROWING

Honoring our Past and Looking to the Future.

Our Archives & History Committee protects and restores parish registers, records and documents dating

from 1824 onward. In 2013, they presented the program Knowing and Telling our Congregational

Stories: A Workshop on Parish Archives and History St. Matthew’s, Hillsborough. St. Matthew’s

sanctuary and churchyard date from 1824-26 so we have many stories to tell! Remembering and

acknowledging people and events reminds of us of the constancy of change, illuminates current

opportunities for thoughtful reflection, and engenders curiosity about future directions and decisions.

Changes and growth in the past 3 decades

include twenty-first century renovations to our

beloved sanctuary, churchyard and church

buildings. These required eight years of careful

planning; we have been fortunate to have

parishioners with expertise in financing, design,

and construction who could oversee the work.

Rededicated by Bishop Michael Curry in 2008,

the sanctuary and grounds received

designation in the National Register of Historic

Places (2000) and as a Living Historic Church in

the Episcopal Diocese of NC (2011).

Congregationally, we have grown from an Average Sunday Attendance of 81 with 3 children in 1990, to

one of 181 with 42 children in 2017. Our choir has expanded from 6 to 18 members. In 1990, the new

rector set up shop in a 1957-era parish house that was used for all non-sanctuary events. Now, that

renovated and named Hayden Building boasts an enlarged Fellowship Hall and kitchen, a nursery,

classrooms, staff offices and three restrooms. The Ruffin House, constructed in 2000 and renovated in

2018, contains our youth room, choir room, Rector’s office, administrative office, Graebner

library/meeting room, kitchen space and two restrooms. A new educational building, anticipated for

completion in 2019, will add classroom and meeting space and allow further reallocation of space. That

we are able, in this time of transition, to initiate a building project, speaks to the financial and spiritual

strength of St. Matthew’s congregation.

We are growing spiritually in our knowledge and love of God to be a community of openness and

adaptability, love and compassion, creativity and beauty, careful listening and honest exploration of

faith. As we have grown in numbers and spaces, we have grown even more so in our sense of God

calling us to mutual ministry, and in our responses to that call.

OUR HOPES AND DREAMS

As part of the search process, we have had a

number of conversations with parishioners:

over 125 people participated in these

discussions, showing our congregation’s deep

commitment to St. Matthew’s.

From our conversations we learned both about

what keeps us together and about some areas

of difference which we want to learn to

navigate in a spirit filled way. Here are some of

the main points from these conversations;

these points reveal a great deal about us and

about the qualities we seek in a new rector.

We value a rector who is present with us in our sorrows and in our joys.

Both young people and adults want to integrate younger members more fully into the life of our

church. Families with young children and teenagers yearn for a worship service that is more

accessible to busy lives (Saturday early evening was suggested), more musically accessible

(hymns memorable to children and with contemporary tempo and instruments for teens) and

that express, in the words of our youth group members, enthusiasm. People want also to keep

the beauty and breadth of the traditional service.

We want to keep much of what we have: our outreach and inreach ministries, such as Food for

All, OCIM, Faith and the Arts, our Lenten series, our book discussions, a strong music program,

our care and discernment groups, as well as ministries that bring us together such as FeST, Shawl

Ministry, Archives and History, and the Newcomers Committee.

Many of us expressed a desire for sustained, smaller fellowship opportunities that deepen

friendships, spiritual growth, and strengthen reliance and trust in one another. Some members

want to deepen their contemplative practice.

We are a congregation that likes to learn something from our sermons - to have them be

scripturally based, insightful and meaningful to our lives. We want sermons that are relevant,

but not overtly political. (see appendix)

While we are committed to growth, we remain cautious about “too much” change. The

configuration of our campus and our sanctuary is bounded in ways that must be taken into

account as we encourage a sustaining congregation.

Some of us are deeply committed to working on issues of race as in our Racial Justice &

Reconciliation Task force; some are wary of a communal commitment to that work.

For some, Sunday services provide respite from the barrage of news and stress inherent in our

daily lives. Some of us welcome learning to improve skills for civil, caring conversation on these

issues and dynamics. For others, church is not where these differences find resolution.

All of this together means that we look for a rector experienced in keeping us working on respecting

differences while still holding, honoring and living within what we have in common. We want to work

with a rector experienced in conversation and collaboration; someone who will listen to us, and is skilled

at helping us to learn to be present for one another in

our places of difference; someone who will strengthen

us where we hold so much in common. Our future

rector should be enthusiastic with a sense of humor;

we seek a leader who will trust us and who will lead us

in a collaborative style. Our new rector should be

prepared to listen and learn about the Outreach

commitments for which St. Matthew’s is known in the

community, and be deeply involved in pastoral care

and supporting the care of parishioners one for

another. We seek someone who will be part of the

Hillsborough community and help us to be grounded

where we live. We think it will be important for the

next rector to listen to us for a while before instituting

change, to move slowly, and to consider what it means

for a congregation to grow after a beloved rector of 27 years retired. To address prospective applicants

directly, we look forward to learning your priorities and vision and to growing with you both in our inner

lives and in our commitment to embodying God's dream for us.

APPENDIX

Parish Questions and Word Clouds To inform our parish profile we had a number of meetings with Parishioners, in large and small groups.

In each meeting we asked a consistent set of questions. Below are word clouds created from the

answers we received from several of those questions. We’re including them here in the hope that they

would provide some interesting context about us and what we’re looking for. If you are not familiar with

a word cloud, the larger a word appears the more frequently it came up as an answer for that questions.

Question: What experiences at St. Matthews fulfill your spiritual life? We will soon have the opportunity

for new possibilities, what experiences would further enhance your spiritual growth.

Question: We anticipate a great deal of growth in Hillsborough and the surrounding areas in the coming

months and years. How will we embrace that growth and the challenges that will come along with it?

Question: What makes a good Sermon?

The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina We are 50,000 people gathered into 111 congregations and 10 campus ministries throughout 38 counties in the central part of North Carolina, from Iredell County to Edgecombe County, and from Caswell County to Scotland County. On an average Sunday, more than 15,000 gather to worship across our diocese. Our vision as a diocese is to be a community of disciples committed to following Jesus Christ into the dream of God for us and for all creation. Our diocese functions under a bishop, the Right Reverend Samuel Rodman. The Right Reverend Anne E. Hodges-Copple is the bishop suffragan. It is divided into seven convocations, each headed by a dean. We are one of three dioceses in North Carolina, including the Diocese of East Carolina and the Diocese of Western North Carolina, and one of 110 dioceses that make up The Episcopal Church, a community of 2.4 million members in the United States and abroad. The Episcopal Church is headed by a presiding bishop, currently the Most Rev. Michael Curry. We are also part of the Anglican Communion, a global community of 74 million persons in 38 member provinces throughout the world, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently the Most Reverend and Right Honorable Justin Welby.

All are welcome. We invite you to worship with us and share our joy.

Helpful Links Below are a list of links about Hillsborough and surrounding area:

https://visithillsboroughnc.com/ http://www.visitchapelhill.org http://www.co.orange.nc.us/ http://www.orangecountyfirst.com/ https://www.unc.edu https://www.ncsu.edu/ http://www.nccu.edu/ https://www.duke.edu/