Since 1986 St. Matthew’s Parish has had a well-developed outreach to lesbian and gay Catholics, which we call Comunidad. An operating council of leaders serve one year terms and plan interesting topical meetings and coordinate Communidad’s other activities, which include food and monetary donations to those in need at Christmas, support of the Long Beach AIDS walk, representaion at the Long Beach Pride festival, and an annual spiritual retreat that takes place in the fall. The coordinating council also maintains contact and coordinates activities with similar ministries at other parishes in the Archdiocese and with other nearby churches of other faiths.

Meetings take place on the first Tuesday of the month in the Parish hall at 7:00 p.m.

Comunidad maintains its own website at http://www.comunidadlb.org, which incudes announcements of current activities and an archive of past newsletters in PDF format. For more information about Comunidad, write to comunidad@comunidad.org.

Since 1986, when St. Matthew's was selected as a site for an archdiocesan pilot project connected with the U.S. Bishop's Peace Pastoral, members of our parish have been involved with many projects directed by our Peace and Justice Committee.

Various seminars, prayer events, and special Masses for Peace are held throughout the year as are Advent and Lenten Soup Suppers. The Peace and Justice Committee also coordinates the selling of "Justice Bakery Bread"; relief efforts to those involved in local and foreign disasters; contributions and support for Concern's Crop Hunger Walk; the Heifer Project, which helps needy families in third world countries purchase dairy cows; support for the Sisters of the Holy Names in Lesotho, South Africa; and support of St. Francis Center, a local foodbank that serves the needy.