PC(USA) church in Iowa embodies Matthew 25 across generations

Interacting with the community is all about expanding the ‘relational kin-dom of God’

by Alex Simon and Rich Copley | Special to Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE — “Church is service,” says Thomas Hartley, interim director of Children’s and Family Ministry at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Iowa City, Iowa.

In that spirit, the church “embodies” the Matthew 25 Movement of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, according to the Rev. W. Robert Martin III, pastor and head of staff of the church that relocated to a new facility designed to help the church interact with its community.

Thomas Hartley is interim director of Children’s and Family Ministry at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Recent initiatives have focused on issues such as food insecurity and mental health, particularly among children impacted by the Covid pandemic. The church works to engage its children and youth in outreach programs just like adults.

Martin says that it is all about expanding the “relational kin-dom of God that Jesus was challenging us to embrace and embody.”

See more about St. Andrew in the video above. Learn more about the Matthew 25 Movement here.


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