On August 25, 1973, Bishop William Borders appointed Father William Keane to found the new St. Matthew parish. Until a church could be built, Sunday Masses were held in three different locations. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Pope, Sr., of Cypress Gardens, generously donated five acres of land as a site for the new church and the building process began. In February of 1974, Father Gerard Granahan was appointed as pastor to replace the transferred Father Keane.

Three years later, on March 6, 1977, the church at Carl Floyd Road was dedicated by Bishop Thomas Grady. The vestments worn by Bishop Grady at the dedication were presented to St. Matthew parish in memory of Winter Haven resident Matthew Smith. When the closest Catholic church was in Tampa, Matthew's Sunday morning began at 3:00 a.m. with a five mile walk to Auburndale to catch a train to attend Masa.

From 1977 to 1988, St. Matthew parish experienced unprecedented growth in parishioners and in ministries providing service to God. Through dedicated stewardship, 20 acres of land was purchased in 1988 for our New Home and the building process began anew.

In December of 1993, Father Fred Ruse of St. Paul's parish in Daytona was appointed pastor to St. Matthew parish. Father Ruse, along with the parish community, was given the task of building our New Home. The story of our New Worship Space is elsewhere on this website. Father Ruse and the parish community also completed the planning and building of our Parish Community Center which includes a social hall and administration wing. The PCC was dedicated by Bishop Dorsey in Sep, 2004, on the Feast Day of St. Matthew.

After Christmas 2004, Fr. Ruse departed for Bolivia to study Spanish language and culture at the Maryknoll Language Institute.

In January 2005, Father Charles Viviano, was appointed pastor and joined St. Matthew from St. Clare Parish in Deltona.