About St Matthew's

WHAT WE BELIEVE

The heart of our shared life together is a trust in Jesus and a love for God’s word. We love to dig deep into the Bible and have it go deep into us, both on a Sunday and in Growth Groups. We want the solid foundations for faith that can only be found in the Scriptures. We want to know the grace of God, because we have come to see that is our only hope and our greatest need.

We believe that God is good, life is a gift and that relationships with God, with each other and with the created world are the most important thing in life. At St Matthew's we want to be a community who love God, who love people and who nurture each person's trust in God.

We believe God speaks today through the ancient writings in the Bible and that he works his purposes in our lives as we receive his message.

We think that 'church' is people - people who recognise that we aren't perfect, who share a desire to be changed by God and to serve him and the world he created.

What we Believe

WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?

At the heart of Christianity is Jesus - who he is and what he's done for our world. Jesus is God's promised King, and God's Son. He came to bring the Kingdom of God by being rejected, killed, and rising from the dead.

Now, Jesus invites people to join his Kingdom by repenting and believing this good news.

FIND OUT MORE

MEET THE TEAM

Evan McFarlane

Rector of St Matthew's

Evan is the Rector of St Matthew’s Shenton Park. He has 13 years experience in preaching, pastoring, mentoring and training in complex multi-site, multi-ethnic, multi-congregation churches. Evan is married to Bon and they have four children.

God revealed the grace of Jesus Christ to Evan as he has done with so many others, through the faith of his parents. It doesn’t make for the most interesting of stories, but it’s what he passionately prays for his children and all the children of St Matthew’s.

Roger Morey

St Matthew's Minister

Roger is married to Helen and they have three sons and one daughter. Roger grew up in Canberra in a Christian family, studied social work and theology in Sydney and has worked as a pastor in Sydney, and in Perth since 2000. He enjoys golf and bushwalking. He loves encouraging and equipping people as servants of Christ. He has been on staff at St Matthew's since October 2010.

Tyler Swartzentruber

St Matthew's Minister

By the grace of God, Tyler became a Christian through the patient prayer and discipleship of his parents. His marriage to Penny, their three children, and his experience in education and ministry are all testaments to God’s faithfulness. He enjoys exploring the Southern Coast with his family, quality music, all-sorts sport, American cereal and helping others to treasure Jesus.

Ben Smart

Unichurch Pastor

Ben's passion is to see as many people as possible knowing Jesus on the last day. Towards that end he moved to Perth in 2013 to work at St Matthew's and help plant and establish a new congregation, and then spent four years working with the Christian Union at UWA. In 2023 he came back on staff with St Matthew's as the pastor of the Unichurch congregation. Ben is married to his Canadian wife Alex, and they have three young Smarties.