The Book of Genesis tells us that God called Father Abraham to journey from Egypt to Canaan to establish a new home for his people. After completing his long and difficult trek—even before he pitched a tent to shelter his family—Abraham built an altar to the Lord because he understood that his true home was where God’s people would gather to worship.
Likewise, as Christians, we understand that our true home is when and where we celebrate our union with Christ and with each other through our participation in the Divine Liturgy and especially in the receiving of Holy Communion.
For the past seventeen years at St. Matthew the Apostle Mission, we have worshiped together, started new families, baptized our babies, mourned our departed, and grown in love and grace as a Christian family. But, glory be to God, we have outgrown our current church home. Our little rented space has served us well. But God is calling us to continue our journey—to build a NEW altar and establish a NEW home.
We've done some extensive research on properties in the Baton Rouge area and determined that we will need in excess of $800,000 to purchase a building in the capitol region that will accommodate future growth and ministry needs. In order to reach this amount, we plan to take out a loan from the bank, sell land we own for between $350,000 and $450,000, add the $100,000 we currently have in savings, and hope to raise $200,000 from donations. Our ambition is to raise $75,000 of that donation total by January 28, 2024, which is the date of our annual meeting.
To achieve this goal, we need the help of the global community of believers - both those who are local to Baton Rouge and those who aren't local, but who have friends and family members that are part of the St. Matthew's community. Please give thanks with us for all that the Lord has provided by helping to secure the future generations of Christians in Baton Rouge, and build that new altar to the Lord and establish that new home for our St. Matthew the Apostle family.
