St. Matthew's Episcopal Church sits at 300 South Main Street in Pennington, New Jersey, a few blocks from the small town's center and just down the road from neighboring Hopewell. The parish is a member congregation of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, part of the wider Episcopal Church, and has worshipped on the same lot for nearly a century. From its Sunday liturgies to its children's choirs, its food pantry partnerships to its biennial mission trips to Honduras, St. Matthew's is best understood as a parish rooted in Episcopal tradition while remaining actively engaged with the wider community of Pennington and the surrounding Hopewell Valley.
Worship at the Heart of Parish Life
Two Sunday services anchor the life of St. Matthew's. At 8:00 AM a quiet spoken liturgy is offered using Holy Eucharist Rite I from the Book of Common Prayer, with bread and wine distributed at Communion. At 10:00 AM the principal service gathers the parish for Holy Eucharist Rite II, with congregational singing supported by the adult choir. The 10:00 AM service is livestreamed on YouTube and on Facebook, and a recording remains available afterward for those unable to attend in person. A printed bulletin can be viewed and downloaded each week.
The liturgy follows the patterns described in the Book of Common Prayer, with the seasons of the church year shaping worship in familiar Episcopal ways. As the parish explains, the Alleluia is set aside during Lent and returns in its full double form at the Easter Vigil, while the exchange of the peace serves as a meaningful transition between the Liturgy of the Word and the Holy Communion. The parish holds to the Anglican understanding of the Real Presence in the Eucharist, teaching that Christ is truly present in the bread and wine when the sacrament is celebrated in community.
A Parish Born in a Tea Room
St. Matthew's traces its origins to the spring of 1921, when a small group of Episcopal communicants began meeting for worship in the Tea Room of the Rose Garden Inn at 410 South Main Street. When the inn was later sold, the fledgling mission moved to the office of Howe Nurseries through the hospitality of William P. Howe. On May 22, 1925, the Rt. Rev. Paul Matthews, Bishop of New Jersey, visited the mission for a Confirmation service held at the Pennington Presbyterian Church, and from that point the congregation grew steadily.
In 1926 Mr. Howe donated the lot where the church still stands, and the congregation built a small wooden church seating about sixty people at a cost of $4,250. The new building was dedicated with borrowed funds, and the debt was not paid off until 1945, the same year the mission was placed under the pastoral oversight of St. James Episcopal Church in Trenton. A parish hall, kitchen and sacristy were added in the early 1950s, and in 1956 the parish purchased an adjacent home to serve as its rectory. The mission was formally received as a full parish of the Diocese at the April 1957 diocesan convention.
By 1967 the original wooden chapel had been replaced with the present structure, and the face of the older parish hall was tied into the new building to create a unified exterior. A larger parish hall and additional classrooms were added in 2000, and the parish celebrated its centennial on June 5, 2022, with a celebration of Pentecost that included the installation of the Rev. Canon Jack Belmont as Rector Emeritus.
Mother Leslie and the Parish Staff
The current Rector is the Rev. Leslie Hague, who began her ministry at St. Matthew's in 2024 after serving parishes in Savannah, Arlington, and Fort Lauderdale. She is accompanied by her wife Katie and their three pets - the cats Bellatrix and Buffy, plus the chihuahua Buffy - and they have moved into the rectory next to the church. Mother Leslie has asked newcomers and longtime members alike to wear name tags so she can learn names more easily. The two wardens who help guide the parish are Annie Gribbins as Senior Warden and Andy Sheldrick as Junior Warden.
Mark Dolan serves as Director of Music Ministry and directs the adult choir, the handbell choir (known affectionately as the Heavy Metal bell choir), and the Junior Choir. He is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association and an experienced concert organist who has performed on both US coasts and in the UK. Cheryl Watterson serves as Director of Children's and Family Ministries, overseeing the Kairos Sunday School program, coordinating outreach projects, and assisting with youth activities. A former social worker, Cheryl has been part of the St. Matthew's community since 1999. Jacob Wilcoxson serves as the Summer Ministry Intern, and Pam Worthington is the Parish Administrator. The church's vestry, the elected lay leadership body, includes Sally Barber, Ginny Buchanan, Christian Davis, Tom DiMuzio, Bronwyn Radice-Haley, Bob Huber, Janice Kinnamon, Cindy Luciano, Cheryl Ludwig, Gayl Martinez, Steve Spencer, and Alexa Udy.
Christian Formation for Every Age
Children and youth are central to the parish's ministry. The Kairos Church School offers Sunday morning Christian education, and the Junior Choir welcomes children from second or third grade through eighth grade for weekly rehearsals and monthly participation in worship. Destinations, the middle school program for students in grades six through eight, meets once a month on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Each gathering begins with a shared meal and team-building games, followed by a mystery destination somewhere within a twenty-minute drive, then a scripture lesson tied to the experience. Recent destinations have included the Pennington African Cemetery, the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham Hindu temple in Robbinsville, caroling at Brandywine Senior Living, a hike up Baldpate Mountain, and a fall trip to Chickadee Creek Farm. The program is led by parishioners Diana Drake and Phyllis Jones with support from Cheryl Watterson.
For adults, Bible Study meets on Tuesday mornings at 9:30 AM in the church library, with a Zoom link available for those who prefer to join virtually. No prior biblical knowledge is required. The Book Club gathers on the third Thursday of each month at 10:00 AM in the library or Classroom C, and the group celebrated its one-hundredth selection in October 2022. The Ladies Luncheon Group meets monthly from September through June for a potluck lunch and conversation, rotating among members' homes and Belmont Hall. Adult Education, lay reader assignments, and a Lenten series round out the formation offerings.
A Music Ministry of Three Ensembles
Music is woven into nearly every Sunday at St. Matthew's. The Adult Choir sings at the 10:00 AM liturgy and at special services throughout the church year. The Heavy Metal bell choir, open to all ages with basic music-reading skills, rehearses on Wednesday evenings from 8:00 to 9:00 PM in the undercroft and performs across the program year. The Junior Choir rehearses weekly on Wednesdays from 6:00 to 6:45 PM from mid-September through Easter, learning music literacy and a range of repertoire that includes the Anglican choral tradition. Director Mark Dolan brings more than two decades of experience to the program.
Outreach Near and Far
Outreach is a defining mark of the parish, with partnerships that reach from Pennington to Central America. St. Matthew's is closely tied to Arm In Arm of Princeton and Trenton, an organization focused on hunger prevention, homelessness prevention, and workforce development. Parishioners staff the food pantry on the third Monday of each month, and an open cabinet built by an Eagle Scout in the church lobby collects donated food. A separate effort supports Arm In Arm's Urban Garden.
The parish also sends volunteers to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) on the second Tuesday of each month. The Kairos Sunday School program packs more than six hundred food bags for TASK each year, and an annual MLK Day of Service with Pennington Presbyterian Church has produced more than two thousand utensil packs and dozens of fleece blankets for TASK and oncology patients at Capital Health. Additional support goes to the Hopewell Valley Mobile Food Pantry.
Since 2006 St. Matthew's has sent multigenerational mission teams every other year to El Hogar in Honduras, an Episcopal-affiliated residential school serving children at risk from hunger, violence and poverty. Teams have helped with construction projects on the Tegucigalpa campus, assisted at St. Mary's Technical Institute, and spent time with the children in classrooms and play. The parish also supports Hope Children's Home in El Progreso, which cares for up to thirty-two children. Funds raised at the annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper have been directed to Honduran ministries in recent years.
Seasonal Traditions and Parish Life
Several annual traditions draw the wider community into the life of the parish. The Blessing of the Animals, held on the front lawn in early October in remembrance of St. Francis of Assisi, welcomes dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, guinea pigs, snakes, bearded dragons, turtles, and at least one tarantula named Charlotte. The Christmas Bazaar on the first Saturday of December brings together crafters, a Just Foods Cafe, A Taste of Norway, Norwegian waffles, and homemade casseroles, soups, and baked goods, with proceeds supporting parish missions. The Fall and Spring Rummage Sales rescue gently used items from local homes; leftover goods are donated to the Rescue Mission, and shoppers from Haiti and the Philippines have purchased bags of clothing and household goods to ship overseas. Monthly parish auctions offer donated vacations, services, and experiences to benefit the Parish Life Guild. The Mardi Gras Pancake Supper, the Interfaith Potluck and Community Celebration, and the occasional Mardis Gras gathering round out the calendar.
St. Matthew's Preschool
Sharing the parish campus is St. Matthew's Preschool, a long-running early childhood program. Originally known as the Little Leisure Nursery School when it began in 1971, the preschool has grown into one of the area's most respected early childhood programs, offering age-appropriate curriculum, daily activities, and a calendar that runs alongside the academic year. The preschool shares facilities with the church and is a natural point of connection for young families in Pennington.
Liturgical Worship and Episcopal Identity
As Episcopalians, the members of St. Matthew's find their identity in following Jesus Christ through the worship, prayer, and mission described in the Book of Common Prayer. The parish celebrates the two foundational statements of faith - the Apostles' Creed used at baptism and the Nicene Creed used at communion - and teaches that Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ's Body, the Church. Worship is Christ-focused, and the parish sees itself as part of a wider Anglican tradition shaped equally by scripture, tradition, and reason. Members are encouraged to learn more about the Episcopal Church through the parish's introduction page, which explores topics such as the meaning of the Alleluia, the Real Presence in the Eucharist, and the exchange of the peace.
Practical Details for Visitors
The church office is open Sunday from 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM, Monday and Wednesday from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM, Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM, and Friday from 9:00 AM to noon. The office is closed on Saturday. Sunday services are held at 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM, with the 10:00 AM liturgy livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook. The Memorial Garden on the church grounds is available for the interment of ashes for parishioners and their families, with arrangements made through the Rector. The Giving Card and Make a Donation pages offer online giving, while the Grocery Program allows parishioners to support the operating fund simply by purchasing gift cards from Pennington Market, ShopRite, Stop & Shop, and Marrazzo's, with five percent of each purchase returning to the church.