Midweek Messenger for March 19, 2026
Schedule Highlights
- Worship Schedule: St. Matthew’s Worship Schedule
- Other Meetings and Events: St. Matthew’s March 2026 Calendar
- Each Wednesday of Lent, come to experience a special series of Simple Prayer services with the overarching theme of The Life, Passion & Death of Jesus: Meditations through the Art of Duccio di Buoninsegna and Others. Each week we will focus on an aspect of the Cross. The services last about 30 minutes each. All are welcome.
- Children’s Church meets in the Nursery immediately after the Children’s Message during our 10:00 AM Worship Service.
Sunday School Classes
- Children’s Sunday School meets in Room 222 following the worship service
- Come and see a journey through the Gospel of John. Ray Denmark and Jim Wiedman co-lead this series in the Parlor, immediately following the 10:00 AM service. Bring your Bible and join us as we discuss the Gospel of John, Chapters 7 and 8.
Tuesday Bible Studies
Join our Bible studies every Tuesday:
- 9:45 AM Bible Study with Isaac in the Parlor, discussing the Gospel of John.
- 7:00 PM Bible Study with Rev. JW Park occurs each Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM via Zoom. The text that the group is discussing is The Final Days: A Lenten Journey through the Gospels, by Matt Rawls, which is available in several formats from a number of online retailers.
St. Matthew’s to Host Bowie Mayoral Candidate Forum
On January 13, 2026, District 4 County Councilwoman, Ingrid Harrison, announced that she would resign her position in order to lead the PG County Economic Development Corporation. On February 2, Bowie’s Mayor, Tim Adams, resigned his position on the Bowie City Council so that he could fill Councilwoman Harrison’s seat on the County Council. The city was left with a mayoral vacancy that is being filled on an interim basis by City Councilman, Dufour Woolfley.
Since the regular mayoral election is not due to be held until next year, a special election will be held on April 7 to fill the vacancy. Nine candidates filed to run in the special election.
St. Matthew’s will host a forum on March 26, 2026, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM in Fellowship Hall to enable interested city residents and others to hear from the candidates. See the event flyer here: Hear from the Candidates.
Chesapeake Flute Consort Benefit Concert
The Chesapeake Flute Consort presents Poetry, Myth, and Legend on March 27 at 7:30 PM at the Annapolis Evangelical Lutheran Church, 38 West Central Avenue, Edgewater, MD. Nonperishable food and cash donations attendees bring to the concert will benefit the Lutherans Mission Society’s Compassion Place in Annapolis.
Our very own Christina Bayes and Heather Eisinger are members of this adult flute choir consisting of 5 types of flutes. If interested in forming a carpool, please contact marianeisinger@stmatthews-
All are Invited to a Lenten Brunch!
The United Women in Faith cordially invite ALL of St. Matthew’s to attend a brunch on Saturday, March 28 in Fellowship Hall at 10:00 AM. Join us for delicious food, fellowship, and an interesting talk by a local author, Maura McGee. No RSVP is needed; however, if you need babysitting, please email uwf@stmatthews-bowie.org.
Mark Your Calendar for Holy Week Activities
- Sunday, March 29, 10:00 AM: Palm Sunday celebration of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and the service of Christ’s Passion. The Gloria Ringers will provide special music.
- Wednesday, April 1, 6:00 PM: Soup & Salad Supper (Fellowship Hall) followed by the final Lenten Simple Prayer Service (Sanctuary) at approximately 7:00 PM.
- Thursday, April 2, 6:00 PM: Maundy Thursday Supper and Service, celebrating the Lord’s supper and the Gethsemane event, including washing of the hands and commemoration of the Agony in the Garden and the Arrest of Jesus (Fellowship Hall)
- Friday, April 3, 7:00 PM: Good Friday Service with Cantata, The Body of Christ, featuring the Chancel Choir (Sanctuary)
- Saturday, April 4, 10:00 to 11:00 AM: Easter Egg Hunt (Upper Parking Lot, rain or shine)
- Sunday, April 5, 8:00 AM: Easter Sunrise Service with Communion (Garden, weather permitting, or the Sanctuary)
- Sunday, April 5, 8:30 AM: Easter Breakfast (Fellowship Hall)
- Sunday, April 5, 10:00 AM: Easter Service with Communion, featuring music by the Chancel Choir as well as flute, organ, piano and trumpet, with Coffee Hour to follow.
Note: the church office will be closed on Monday April 6 for Easter Monday.
Helping Hands for April
Please don’t forget that we will be collecting donations of candy over the next few weeks in preparation for our April 1st Helping Hands meeting at 10:30 AM in room 223, when we will stuff plastic eggs for our annual Easter Egg Hunt (no fooling!). Please drop off your donations of candy in the Church Office.
If you can help hide eggs and/or help with the hunt, please contact Becky Roper (beckyroper@stmatthews-bowie.
The Endowment Committee Wants Your Suggestions!
The Endowment Committee was glad that many people were able to attend the discussion about the unexpected aspects of losing a loved one on March 15. A number of attendees had suggestions for resources they found helpful in their own circumstances. We would like to put together a list of these resources and make them available.
If you know of any such resources that might help others, please e-mail your suggested resources to Endowment@stmatthews-bowie.org
Opportunity to Show Your Faith
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead…Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. James 2:14-18 (NSRV)
Many people would like to find an opportunity to give their time and talents to the needy but cannot commit to a regularly scheduled activity. They would love to be able to make a stand-alone commitment when they can fit one into their hectic schedules.
St. Matthew’s offers such an opportunity. On the third Sunday of each month, St. Matthew’s provides a meal for approximately 35-40 men at the Prince George’s County Men’s Shelter. The meal may be purchased or homemade and can be as simple as pizza, salad, and a dessert or as complex as the volunteer(s) care to make it. The volunteer(s) obtain and/or prepare the food, deliver it to the shelter, serve the 6:00 PM meal, then clean up afterwards. About four to five people make the optimum number of volunteers for each month’s meal. It can be great fun and very satisfying to serve people who need what you have to give and really appreciate the efforts you make on their behalf.
The next opportunity to provide a shelter meal will be April 19. If your family, your church group, or any other group you can cobble together would like to volunteer to provide a shelter meal for any month (or more, if possible), or if you would like more information, please contact Pat Clunies at 301-910-2698 or email communityoutreach@stmatthews-
Swing a Club for Victims of Domestic Violence
Seeds of Security (SoS), an entity of The Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware (BW/PD) Area of The United Methodist Church, is a collaboration of networks and persons committed to educating, advocating, resourcing, and providing safe haven for survivors of Domestic Violence or Intimate Partner Violence. SoS supports the BW/PD Area’s ministries with survivors of intimate partner violence and develops safe havens for them.
SoS is sponsoring a Charity Golf Tournament to be held at Renditions Golf Club, (1380 Central Ave., Davidsonville, MD US 21035) in Anne Arundel County, on Monday, April 20, from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. In 2025 the Seeds of Security Golf Tournament raised more than $9,500. The cost to play in the tournament is $150 for an individual or $500 for a team of four. For more information or to register for the event, follow this link (then scroll down): SoS BW/PD Charity Golf Tournament. If you don’t play golf, or can’t participate this time, but would like to support the cause, you can follow this link to become a sponsor: Sponsorship Information. A number of sponsorship levels are available, starting at $100.
In Case You Haven’t Heard…
- St. Matthew’s will once again be fielding a team for the Christmas in April program. Mark your calendars to help provide needed home repairs for a vulnerable PG county resident on the last Saturday in April. Check out the April Circuit Rider and future issues of the Midweek Messenger for more information about the program and how to sign up!
- Youth Group meets on Sundays from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. If you are a middle or high school student, you are welcome to join us!
Baltimore Washington Conference (BWC) Annual Conference
BWC announced that registration for the 2026 Annual Conference Session is now open. The 242nd Session of the BWC will meet Wednesday, May 27, through Friday, May 29, 2026, at the Hilton Hotel at 401 W. Pratt St. in Baltimore.
Each Annual Conference session must include an equal number of lay and clergy members. Because the clergy membership includes not only pastors serving local churches but also those in extension ministries, retirees, and clergy on leave, BWC needs additional lay members, known as Equalization Members (EMs), to help bring the conference into balance. To be eligible to be an EM, you must:
- Be a professing member of a Baltimore-Washington Conference United Methodist Church for at least two years, and
- Not already be serving as a lay member to Annual Conference (either elected by your local church or through another role that grants lay membership by virtue of office, such as certain committee chairs listed in ¶33 of the Book of Discipline).
If you feel called to serve in this way, please contact your District Superintendent as soon as possible to be considered as an Equalization Member. Please note that if you are assigned as an equalization member, you will be responsible for registering and covering the cost of attending Annual Conference. To learn more or to register, follow this link: BWC Annual Conference.
Little Free Pantry Update
The current needs for the LFP are sides (such as mashed potatoes) cereal, pancake mix, and syrup. We need donations in QUANTITY as there are many needy families. Please put your donations in the bin in the coatroom or in bins by the narthex door. Thank you for caring! (bethlingg,@comcast.net)
Bowie Food Pantry Update
The greatest current needs of the Pantry are canned tuna, canned chicken, peanut butter crackers, and personal care items (such as toothpaste and shampoo), and Depends (men’s and women’s sizes M and L). Please place donations in the shopping cart in the coatroom. Thank you for your generosity!
To ensure that your item is included in the Midweek Messenger, please send it to enews@stmatthews-bowie.org by noon on Wednesday. Anything received after that may be held for the next week’s edition.