A Lexington County church hopes to bring free high-speed internet access to local students.

In August, St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church on Calks Ferry Road was approached by Lexington School District 1 about being a safe location for distance learning students.

The church was not set up for that kind of activity and only had a few volunteers who could help.

The leaders of the church looked for opportunities to serve the families and students of Lexington School District 1.

Pastor Seth Gibson said, “The covid-19 pandemic has added an immense amount of anxiety and stress to the people of our community.

“We as a faith community believe our calling is to get out of our comfort zones and become nimble in our service to our community by helping address urgent community needs and hopefully ease the added pressures of this pandemic as safely and outwardly focused as we are able.”

The church had been planning to upgrade its internet equipment.

They decided to offer free, high-speed WiFi to the community.

The church is partnering with Marvin W. Sox of Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative, Glenn Martin of Carolina Connect, and school board and staff members of Lexington District 1 to offer low income families reliable access to wireless highspeed internet services.

“The priority of the church is not just about attendance and collections, the priority of the church is building and maintaining relationships with the people in the community and leveraging what we have for the sake of meeting those needs,” said Pastor Seth.

“Our goal is to reshape how we both ‘Be’ and ‘Do’ church, so that we are an inviting and welcoming resource to our community.”

There are significant upfront and ongoing costs - $15,000 to $20,000 initially.

St. Matthew’s has raised half the funding from their community partners Nephron Pharmaceuticals CEO Lou Kennedy, Publix, private donors from across the United States, Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative and Carolina Connect have pledged their support.

If you would like to know more or to help, contact Pastor Seth Gibson at 803-957-9345, www.SML-LEX.org, or emailpastorseth@sml-lex.org .