St. Matthew Lutheran Church

                                The Place for You

Sunday Morning Worship

St. Matthew offers two worship services and two worship styles on Sunday mornings at 8:30am and 11:00 am., with Holy Communion offered and celebrated on the first, third, and fifth Sundays of the month.

Our 8:30am worship is our “traditional worship,” where the joyful singing of praise to our Savior is accompanied by an organ and, at times, by a piano. Much of the worship service is drawn from the various liturgies in the hymnal. However, there is still much variety and freshness in our worship in the context of these rich, time tested liturgies.

In addition, our wonderful Adult Choir enriches our worship roughly every other week from September through May with a variety of beautiful musical pieces in a variety of styles.

We also look forward to our newly formed Bell Choir enriching our worship during this time.

We also utilize the talents of our people as they share their talents by playing various instruments to enrich our worship: piano, flute, trumpet, clarinet, and the like. Occasionally, a choral solo or duet – or even a spiritual song sung by our children - graces us to enrich our worship as well.

Our 11:00am worship is our “contemporary worship,” where the praises sung to our wondrous Lord and Savior is led by our band. Here, the worship is joyfully led by guitar and base, drums and congas, flute and piano/keyboard, and, of course, our praise singers.

Many of the songs, hymns, and spiritual songs are those which are currently being written and sung in the Christian community, with an occasional older hymn with a timeless message being sung with the band leading us, as the focus of the day directs us. While there is still an “order” to what we do, the language used in this worship is crafted to take the eternal truths of God’s Word, and communicate them in a straightforward way in the language of our time. Here also, our worship is occasionally enriched by a praise song sung as a solo or duet, a spiritual song sung by our children, and even, on occasion, by our Adult choir.

Special Worship Services Throughout the Year

Advent is the 4 weeks just prior to Christmas when we prepare our hearts to again celebrate the reality of Christmas-God with us in Jesus! With all the busyness going on at this time, this can be a real challenge! In order to help us, we have three special Wednesday evening family friendly worship experiences at 7:00 pm. A light supper is usually served during a fellowship time prior to worship from 6:00 pm - 6:45 pm.  Watch the News and Events page for dates.

Christmas Eve On this joyous night we will have three worship services. The first, at 6:00 pm, uses traditional carols in a contemporary sound as the praise band leads our worship with soloists singing special offerings as well to enrich our worship. The second, at 7:30 pm, uses traditional carols with a more traditional sound and setting, with our Adult choirs enriching our worship. The third, at 10:00 pm, is our candlelight Christmas Eve worship, with special music enriching our worship provided by instruments and soloists.

Christmas Day On this special day, we pause to remember the greatest gift ever given-the baby Jesus in the manger to us. This is a festive service enriched once again by special music and instruments. The “cutting of the Christmas Birthday Cake” follows this worship as we enjoy a time of fellowship on this day.

Lent is the 40 days just before Easter. During this time, we focus especially on what Jesus did for us through the cross and what this means for us as we look to daily turn away from our sins and look to walk more and more with Jesus. To help our focus during this time, we worship on the six Wednesdays in Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday. These short, family friendly, worship experiences are designed to turn our eyes especially to our Lord’s walk to the cross and the life we are now empowered to live in Him. Watch the News and Events page for dates.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Worship  In the week leading up to Easter Sunday, we celebrate our Lord’s establishment of Holy Communion on “the night in which He was betrayed,” Maundy Thursday, as well as the night He laid down His life for us on the cross, Good Friday. These worship experiences are moving, faith building, remembrances of what our Lord has done for us and what this means for us today.

Easter Morning Worship  On this most joyous day in the year, when we celebrate the victorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ from the dead, besides our regularly scheduled Sunday Worship, we also have a “Sunrise” worship service at 6:30 am as we are awed to experience in a real way that because of this day, everything has been changed for all time; He is risen! He is risen indeed! On this day all of our choirs and musicians combine to enrich our worship with joy!

Thanksgiving Day Worship   On this day of national thanksgiving to God, we also come together to remember and give thanks for the many blessings our God has showered down upon us, especially the blessing of His Son, Jesus, to be our Savior.

This worship service is typically a time of great participation and joy as we remember and give thanks. It is on Thanksgiving Day at 10:00am.

“Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord”

(Opportunities to Serve, Using One’s Musical Gifts and Abilities)

Note: If any of the following things are for you or you would simply like more information, please call the church office and let us know!  435-0330

Adult Choir

Come one, come all! This a great group of Christians who praise and serve God through singing. We are blessed to have Joy Cunningham as our director. She keeps the music joyous and fresh, creating a wonderful atmosphere in which to sing!  The choir meets once a week on Wednesday at 7pm roughly from September through May. If you like to sing, this is the place for you!

Bell Choir

While occasional pieces have been played with the bells, this is actually a new choir beginning this fall. If you can count, (no higher than 8) you can play bells. This is really a blast! Come and see what it is all about! Our director is Bobbi Norman, a longtime player of the bells with a keen ear in choosing joyous music.

Praise Band

Do you play an instrument or think you would like to sing in the Praise Band? Do you have a gift/ability to share? Come to the practices for a few weeks (kind of an “informal audition”) and give it a try! Let’s see what the Lord will do!

Soloists, Special Instrumental Music

It is our goal to use appropriately in worship as many of the musical gifts that God has given His people (both adults and children) as possible, with the intention being to praise God, give him honor, and enrich our worship. If you have a gift or ability that you would like to use in praise to our God, please let us know!

Children’s Choir

While our children have enriched our worship through song occasionally in the past, this year we are looking to begin a children’s choir which will meet and sing in worship regularly. If your child is interested, please let us know!

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Last modified: 11/20/2008