A Cornerstone on Coastal Highway
St. Matthews By the Sea United Methodist Church sits at the corner of Coastal Highway and Dagsboro Street in Fenwick Island, Delaware, a small town between the Atlantic and the inland bays at the southern tip of Sussex County. The church welcomes year-round residents and the seasonal crowd that fills Fenwick Island each summer, and frames its work this way: to make, nurture, and inspire followers of Jesus Christ who grow in their love for God and neighbor.
Sunday Mornings at 9:30
The main Sunday worship service begins at 9:30 a.m. and runs about an hour. The order of worship moves through four parts: Gathering, Word, Response, and Sending Forth. Hymns, special music, a scripture reading, a sermon, and a time of prayer fill out the hour. A chancel choir and a bell choir take part at certain points in the year. The Sacrament of Holy Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month, and the communion table is open to everyone, members and visitors alike. Dress ranges from shorts and sandals to business casual. Come as you are.
Communion By-The-Sea
From June through August, an additional service called Communion By-The-Sea meets at 8:00 a.m. on the front lawn of the church. The half-hour gathering includes prayer, scripture readings, a sermon, and Holy Communion. It is a small, simple way to begin a Sunday morning during the busy coastal season.
From a Tent on Dagsboro Street
St. Matthews By the Sea began in a tent in the summer of 1961, organized by the Rev. David Baker, then pastor of Salem Methodist Church in Selbyville. Three lots at Dagsboro Street and Highway 1 were purchased, and construction started in June 1962. Worshippers met on a concrete floor with the sky overhead until the cornerstone was laid in September of that year. Two adjacent lots were added in the fall of 1963 for parking, and additions and improvements to the building have continued at a steady pace ever since.
For its first three decades the church was a summer mission point. The decision to become a permanent congregation came as Fenwick Island and the surrounding area grew, and on January 13, 1990, the Rev. Dr. Donald O. Clendaniel, Sr. was appointed pastor. He served until 1999, when the Rev. Bruce Miller arrived on July 1. Miller's twenty-year pastorate brought new ministry to the church, including the church's first associate pastor, Rich Evans, and the founding of the Samaritan Thrift Shop. Miller retired on June 30, 2019. The Rev. Mike Hurley succeeded him on July 1, 2019, and led the church through the early months of the Covid pandemic before retiring on June 30, 2021. The current pastor, the Rev. Jake Macklin, began on July 1, 2021.
A Pastor Rooted in Sussex County
Jake Macklin grew up in Sussex County and spent childhood days at the area's beaches. He earned a degree in elementary education from Appalachian State University in 2009 and a Master of Divinity from Palmer Theological Seminary in 2016. He is an ordained elder in the Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church and previously served Kenton UMC in Kenton, Delaware, from 2013 to 2017 and Gethsemane in Seaford, Delaware, from 2017 to 2021. A common thread in his preaching is the greatest commandment that Jesus gives: Love God and love your neighbor.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
The church's signature community ministry goes by the name Neighbors Helping Neighbors, or NHN. NHN works with state, county, and local agencies and partners most closely with the Pyle Center, a multi-faceted Delaware program that promotes health and well-being, fosters self-sufficiency, and protects vulnerable populations. NHN provides Christmas gifts for Pyle Center families, collects diapers, and contributes fuel assistance. The group also supplies materials for home repair projects run by the United Methodist Men.
The Checkerboard Ministry
St. Matthews By the Sea hosts the Checkerboard Ministry for individuals with special needs in the wider community. The group gathers roughly five times a year on Sunday afternoons for miniature golf, bowling, a Valentine Ball, dances, talent shows, horseback riding, and a luau. Members of all ages are welcome to join in.
The Samaritan Thrift Shop
The Samaritan Thrift Shop accepts good used clothing and household goods and sells them at low cost. Its proceeds fund emergency and supplemental food assistance. Volunteers work three-hour shifts from 9 to 12 or 12 to 3, Monday through Friday, or from 9 to 12 on Saturday. The shop is closed on Sunday. Nancy Scheffey directed the shop for its first six years, and Janice Slaysman leads it now.
Music at St. Matthews
Music is woven into the life of the congregation. The Chancel Choir draws members from the pews and sings one or two Sundays a month between September and May, with weekly rehearsals during that season. The Bells of St. Matthews, the bell choir, plays on selected Sundays during the same months and rehearses in the week leading up to each performance. Both groups are directed by Music Director Debby Dudley.
Worship Leaders, Ushers, and Greeters
Members help lead worship in a variety of roles. Liturgists, also called Worship Leaders, call the congregation into worship, read scripture, and assist with the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Ushers and greeters hand out bulletins, seat worshippers, and receive the tithes and offerings. A separate group handles the sound system, recording, and streaming of services for those joining online.
Sunday Mornings Beyond Worship
Christian education runs alongside Sunday worship. An Adult Sunday School class meets at 10:45 a.m. in the Miller Meeting Room and works through scripture passage by passage, asking what each text meant for its original readers and what it means now. A women's Bible study gathers at 10:40 a.m. on Sunday mornings, and a Monday morning Bible study meets at the church year-round at 10:15 a.m.
Women, Men, and Quilts
United Women in Faith meets the second Tuesday of each month, September through June, at 12:00 p.m. for a reading program, fellowship, and fundraising. The annual Christmas Bazaar, held the second weekend of November, is one of the group's two main fundraisers, with proceeds going to local and global missions. United Methodist Men gathers for breakfast, fellowship, a guest speaker, and Holy Communion at 8:30 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month. Their mission projects support Red Bird Mission, the UMC Congo Mission, the Salvation Army, and several local efforts. The Quilters meet on the second and fourth Mondays at 10:00 a.m. and have donated more than 16,000 quilts to cancer patients and others in need.
Shepherds and Bereavement
Congregational care runs through a Shepherd Ministry that works alongside the pastor. Card Shepherds send greetings to inactive members and others. Comfort Shepherds visit and make calls. Crisis Shepherds maintain weekly contact during difficult seasons. A Bereavement Committee prepares and serves meals for funeral and memorial receptions.
Singing at the Nursing Home
On the third Thursday of each month, a group from the church drives to Ocean Grove Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Millsboro, Delaware. From 9:45 to 10:45 a.m., they gather in the dining hall with residents to sing hymns together, a monthly act of fellowship and joy that has room for more volunteers.
Crafting, Knitting, and the Christmas Bazaar
The Craft Group gathers in Clendaniel Hall every Tuesday from 9 to 11:30 a.m., September through May, to make items for the Christmas Bazaar. The Prayer Shawl Ministry knits or crochets shawls for people who are hospitalized, in nursing homes, or at home, with the shawls prayed over before they are given.
A Global Mission Budget
The 2024 budgeted missions of St. Matthews By the Sea stretch from Sussex County to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Local partners include Sussex County Crises Housing Center, Sussex County Pregnancy Center, and The Way Home, which supports people re-entering community after incarceration. International partners include Christian Friends of Korea, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Red Bird Mission School and Central Appalachian Ministry, Seed Company Bible translation, TMS Global Missionaries The Roberts, UMC Global Missionaries Lorraine Charinda, and World Link International Ministries. The church also hosts meals with international workers living in the community.
The United Methodist Story
St. Matthews By the Sea is part of The United Methodist Church, which the church describes as a global denomination that opens hearts, opens minds, and opens doors through active engagement with our world. The denomination's mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Though The United Methodist Church was formally created in 1968, its roots go back to the eighteenth century and the Wesley brothers' small group of students at Oxford.
Becoming a Member
Four paths to membership are available at St. Matthews By the Sea. A Professing Member professes faith in Jesus Christ and vows to support the church through prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. An Affiliate Member is a professing member of another United Methodist church who wants to stay connected to St. Matthews. An Associate Member belongs to a different Christian denomination but wants to participate in the life of the local church. A Transfer Member is moving from any Protestant church into St. Matthews By the Sea.
A Beach-Side Cornerstone
From a tent on Dagsboro Street in 1961 to a permanent congregation serving full-time residents and seasonal visitors, St. Matthews By the Sea has built its identity around hospitality, music, mission, and an open communion table on the first Sunday of every month. The church gathers at the corner of Coastal Highway and Dagsboro Street in Fenwick Island.