First Presbyterian Church of Matawan

I moved into this area 17 years ago –went church shopping and found First Presbyterian Church of Matawan. My boys were little and didn’t sit still too well but the folks sitting around me were kind and encouraging. My boys grew up in this church and have made many friends and have had many opportunities to help those less fortunate in our community through the outreach of this church. For myself I have taught Sunday School, helped others through Mission Matawan and Volunteer Village and Food Pantry. This church has given me so many vehicles through which to be a light in the world and I am grateful for that. I would encourage anyone to come join us in worship, bible study, music — there is truly something for everyone.

I have been a friend of the First Presbyterian Church of Matawan (FPC Matawan) for over thirty years. It is a welcoming congregation that enjoys multiple choirs, a diverse congregation and a beautiful building. The congregation is active in local mission to victims of Superstorm Sandy on the nearby Raritan Bay, but it also supports missionaries in Central America with the Heifer Project and a peacemaking program in Northern Ireland. My daughter went through the church’s Sunday school program and my spouse is teaching now. I enjoy church workdays and mission speakers. The Arcadian Chorale and Spotlight Players meet and perform there. There is plenty of parking and a coffee hour with lots of goodies after services on Sundays. The church building was constructed in the late 1950’s after a Christmas eve fire took the former structure on Main Street in 1955. The Mount Pleasant Church preceded the one on Main Street and its cemetery can be seen in nearby Freneau. The British burned down an earlier sanctuary during the Revolution after the pastor fought at the Battle of Monmouth. I love the local history and the artifacts of the earlier church buildings which can still be seen at the church. The current minister was active at the synod level before moving to Matawan and is quite the resource.

I’ve been a member here since 1984. A large church footprint, with a small church feel. The congregation here leads with their hearts, and puts everything into it. Currently they are a host site for volunteer villages, disaster assistance hostels for volunteers from around the country, who are restoring the bayshore after superstorm Sandy. Recently the church has expended serious funding in modernizing the bathrooms, kitchen, and wifi to be a better host. In October the showers should be finished. For the previous 12 years they helped poor, elderly and disabled fix up their yards and homes through the Mission Matawan program. The Matawan community food pantry is one of the many joint ventures the church participates in with other area houses of worship. The youth groups go on annual mission trips when not enjoying fun and fellowship, both in small groups and through their new volleyball court.
The community is served by the many outside groups that meet or operate out of the church, including AA, scouts, choirs, drama groups. They share their facility with the Church of the Jersey Shore, which uses the chapel and some of the rooms.
Voted best house of worship in 2014. REALLY not sure how that was derived for the local paper (who worships everywhere and then endorses a place?)