Hunstville is awarded a Matthew 25 Grant
for “The Art of Neighboring”
Hunstville Presbyterian Church, Huntsville, has been awarded a $2000 Synod of the Covenant Matthew 25 Grant for its program “The Art of Neighboring.”
In September and October of 2025, Huntsville’s pastor, the Rev. Ben Beres, preached a sermon series on local evangelism based the book “The Art of Neighboring” by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon. Over the course of those weeks, the church looked at the Biblical understanding of “neighbor,” our call to be people who love God and love neighbor, and to live that out with our actual, physical neighbors, the occupants of the houses that immediately surround our own. They worked through what it means to build relationships from the ground up, how to care for them as people and not projects, and what it looks like to foster community amongst our neighborhoods.
One of the suggestions in “The Art of Neighboring” book was that people could host block parties. It didn’t have to be an elaborate event, just space to spend time together. “Come sit by the fire in my backyard.” “Let’s have hotdogs together.” The fall was a great time to be trying those sort of things. But as winter approached, and people head indoors, it would require a little more than a few logs and a match.
Huntsville sought and received a Matthew 25 Grant from the Synod so that the church could provide some funding to encourage folks in the congregation to keep “neighboring” their neighbors.
“Whatever folks can dream up to do, we wanted help support their ministry (and their discipleship!), and the Synod’s grant has given us the chance to do that,” said Pastor Beres.
“Have a pizza party. Make a fancy dinner. Buy prizes and play Bonko with your neighbors. Whatever folks can dream up to do, we wanted help support their ministry (and their discipleship!), and the Synod’s grant has given us the chance to do that. We’re thankful for the Synod’s partnership in helping us extend this teaching from the fall into the new year (2026). Neighboring is an art for all seasons!”
The focus of the Matthew 25 Grants program is to build congregational vitality, dismantle structural racism, and/or eradicate systemic poverty. These goals stem from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Matthew 25 movement.
