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Welcome to St. Matthew’s. We hope while you are here you will be nourished, welcomed, and sustained. We consider St. Matthew’s a place of hospitality, peace, and renewal, where people can come to be fed through worship and the sacraments; through the care and compassion of our members; through our welcome of the stranger in our midst; through our service to the larger community of Hillsborough and the world. We invite you to be part of the feast.
St. Matthew's History
The General Assembly of North Carolina originally constituted St. Matthew's Parish in 1752 as the established church in the County of Orange. The parish was reorganized in 1824, and the present church building was begun in 1825 and completed in 1826.
St. Matthew's Historic Churchyard
The current grounds of St. Matthew’s are the product of seven successive deeds of land from Thomas Ruffin, Sr and his Cameron family descendants. in 1854 Thomas Ruffin gave the parish the parcel of land on which the church was already built and provided a cemetery for church burials. Bishop Thomas Atkinson wrote to Ruffin in February, 1857, thanking him in particular for his attention to the issue of “solemn and reverent disposal of the bodies of the dead”: “for I see nothing in this state more evincive of neglect than the condition of the cemeteries, unconsecrated, dilapidated, and many times unprotected, so that those living may see the beasts trampling on the graves of the dead.”
(Bishop Thomas Atkinson, Feb. 22, 1857 in Thos. Ruffin Papers, SHC., Courtesy of Rev. Brooks Graebner, St. Matthew’s Church, Hillsborough)
Worship times
Nursery opens at 7:55 in the Hayden Building. Coffee and fellowship immediately following in the Fellowship Hall.
For all ages during our Program Year (September - May). Nursery open.
Nursery open in the Hayden Building. Coffee and fellowship immediately following in the Fellowship Hall. The 10:30 worship service includes congregational and choir music. Nursery services continue until 11:45.
Volunteer opportunities
Food for All: In 2005, St. Matthew's joined with other Orange County churches and organizations to provide simple, individually-packaged evening meals to homeless and hungry people in Hillsborough and environs. The meals are prepared and served Monday through Thursday every week. St. Matthew's currently provides meals on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month, the 3rd Tuesday, and the 5th Thursday. Honduras Medical Mission: St. Matthew's joins with other churches in the area to send medically trained parishioners to Honduras to treat people in need of medical services. Habitat for Humanity: St. Matthew's has participated in building several Habitat houses in Orange County.
Ministries
Food for All
Food for All: In 2005, St. Matthew's joined with other Orange County churches and organizations to provide simple, individually-packaged evening meals to homeless and hungry people in Hillsborough and environs. The meals are prepared and served Monday through Thursday every week. St. Matthew's currently provides meals on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month, the 3rd Tuesday, and the 5th Thursday.
210 St. Mary's Road
PO Box 628
Hillsborough, NC 27278-2518
United States
Contact
The Rev. Brooks Graebner (rector)
