Matthew 25 Church
a matthew 25 church
Our congregation has accepted the PC(USA)’s invitation to follow Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 25:31–46 by becoming active disciples and making a difference in our community and the world.As part of our Matthew 25 commitment, we pledge to embrace one or more of these three areas of focus:
• Building congregational vitality by deepening and energizing our faith and growing as joyful leaders and disciples actively engaged with our community as we share the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed.
• Dismantling structural racism by fearlessly applying our faith to advocate and break down the systems, practices and thinking that underlie discrimination, bias, prejudice and oppression of people of color.
• Eradicating systemic poverty by acting on our beliefs and working to change laws, policies, plans and structures in our society that perpetuate economic exploitation of people who are poor.
OPPC is already fulfilling some of this challenge through our mission to be “A Spiritual Home Where Everyone Belongs”. We are committed to translate worship into other languages using Spf.io Software and through learning how to build a diverse and deep community of believers who serve Jesus Christ together regardless of their culture or background. We are encouraging those of different backgrounds and cultures to attend our church and hear God’s promise. And during this pandemic, we have continued our commitment to help the hungry and poor. We have fed our neighbors thru the Food Truck Voucher Program and Jubilee Reach Groceries and supported the needs of our neighborhood through The Salvation Army, Congregations for the Homeless, Catholic Community Services, Department of Children, Youth and Families, and Attain Housing. We have made efforts to have a diverse representation in leadership and on committees to ensure our whole church is engaged in God’s future vision for our community of faith.
There are many more things we could do to demonstrate a Matthew 25 outlook in our church. We have chosen to concentrate on immediate goals of social justice and formed a Social Justice Task Force to deepen our listening and discussion around issues of race, justice, identity, and the call to be a multicultural, multilingual church that reflects God’s vision for the Church. We are also committed to continually explore ways to support our Bellevue neighbors as they are facing challenge after challenge due to the pandemic.
Most significantly, becoming a Matthew 25 church means we are open. We are listening. As a Seattle Presbytery Thriving Congregations cohort church, we are also learning together with a beloved community and wider Church. We are humble in our search for the ways Jesus Christ may call us to change and grow as Christians to ensure we reflect peace with security and justice for all of God’s people.
To learn more and for ideas on how to get involved and do your vital part as a member of a Matthew 25 church, please visit pcusa.org/matthew25.
ABOUT THE MATTHEW 25 MARK
The circular shape represents unity and equality. Like God, a circle has no beginning and no end, and it symbolizes our continuing effort to help one another. The shape also suggests a globe that points to our engagement with the world.
The three interlocking figures represent the equality of all people without gender or race bias. They have their arms around each other, symbolizing friendship, protection and service.
The number three suggests the three focus areas of congregational vitality, structural racism and systemic poverty, as well as the Trinity.
The color palette is bright, lively, friendly and energetic — suggestive of our active commitment.
Finally, the legend “Matthew 25” below the symbol is the literal identification of the mark. We use a handwritten font to make the point that active engagement in the world requires human effort.