Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church
Staff & Leaders

Rob Merola

Dear Friends, I am so glad you are considering worshiping with us at St. Matthew's. We think church is a great place to be! I mean, first of all: God is there. I know he's everywhere, but the point is, everywhere else we're usually too busy doing a hundred other things to give Him the focused, intentional, singular attention He deserves. Sure, I can worship God on a trout stream. But I don't. I'm thinking about big beautiful fish instead. Second of all, great people are there. The Beatles once described the world around us with this haunting line from the song Elanor Rigby: All the lonely people, where do they all come from? Pretty much everywhere, I think. Again, we're usually just too busy to fit quality relational time into our already over stuffed lives. Church asks us to rethink that. Every week it reminds us to slow down and love each other, and it gives us an important opportunity to do just that. Is it any wonder that churches are full of people who have developed life long, life giving friendships with one another? Third, somewhere along the line, there is usually some nugget of wisdom tucked in there that helps us live a better life in the week to come. I don't know about you, but I need constant reminders to keep the main thing the main thing. It's just too easy to forget what matters most, to be distracted, or to just pain drift through life. That's why I find the weekly reminders to realign myself with my highest priorities so tremendously helpful. There are lots and lots of other reasons, like the music. Or the donuts. Whatever--to my mind (and I guess you'd expect a priest to say this, wouldn't you?!) on Sunday morning, church is THE place to be! Faithfully, Rob+