St. Matthew Ministry

St. Matthew Ministry

"As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, Follow Me." (Matthew 9:9)

Matthew left his job as a tax collector and became one of the twelve Apostles and author of the first Gospel. Saint Matthew is the patron saint of accountants with a feast date of September 21.


Contacts:
Patrick (Pat) Gaglion;  919-929-6511
Bob and Pam McCausland; 919-903-9579 (Pam)

Mission Statement/Purpose
During Mass, the ministers distribute baskets and collect the gifts offered by the congregation and present them to God. After Mass, they log and secure collections and count the donations. The passing of collection baskets at Mass is a reminder to all present that Christ asks us to share His gifts of treasure given to us by Him so that we, as intentional disciples, can continue to do His work in the world. Also collected are individual intentions that reflect parishioners&' sufferings, accomplishments, hurts, and joys.

Major Accomplishments 2019-20
Collected and counted approximately $1,300,000 in donations. About 60% of donations received by St. Thomas More are collected at Masses (the other 40% came from automated gifts, stock gifts, IRA gifts, and gifts from Charitable funds).

Offertory Gift Ministers (37): Distributed and collected offertory baskets gathering both monetary gifts and parishioner intentions. After Mass, the St. Matthew Ministers logged and secured the collection.

Offertory Count Team Ministers (15): Ensured the accurate accounting of donations gathered during the Offertory collection from over 275 Masses.
 

Major Activity
St. Thomas More has an ongoing need for members to help with the following two volunteer responsibilities. A short preliminary interview will be scheduled to determine your interest and availability for a brief training session. Volunteers must be 18 years of age or, if younger, must have already been confirmed in the Catholic Church.

1. Weekend Offertory/Mortgage Collection at Mass--- Volunteers collect the weekly offertory and monthly mortgage contributions by distributing and collecting the baskets during Mass.  Scheduling is generally 1-2 Mass-times per month.


2. Weekend Collection Bagging—Volunteers spend 10-15 minutes after Mass with a second volunteer placing the collections into secure bank bags, and properly logging them onto a master log sheet. There are always a minimum of 2 unrelated volunteers per Mass-time performing this function.

   Two other positions come available periodically and require an interview with Parish Staff.  Volunteers must be at least 21 years of age and must be long-term parishioners of St Thomas More.

3. Collection Processing—Volunteers work under the direction of a lead collection volunteer who assigns various jobs pertaining to processing of the weekend Mass collections: sorting, opening envelopes, counting of cash, and sorting checks. The time commitment is 2 hours, one morning a month, but parishioners are asked to make a year-long commitment to this role.


4. Check Scanners—Volunteers enter checks from the collection in the computer.  Nominal computer experience is required for this position. The time commitment is 1-2 hours, one day a month, but parishioners are asked to make a year-long commitment to this role.

Meeting Frequency and Venue
Frequencies are listed above and vary depending on the position. The venue is the church (#'s 1 and 2) or the Parish Office (#s 3 and 4.)

Estimated Time Commitment for Volunteers
Time commitments are stated above and vary depending on the position.

Special Skills
No special skills required except for Check Scanners, where nominal computer experience is required.