Worship Time Survey
Dear St. Matthew Lutheran Church Family,
As part of our ongoing commitment to nurturing meaningful worship experiences and making space for all who gather each Sunday, we want to share some important updates and considerations regarding our worship schedule.
This has been an ongoing discussion among the staff since 2024 under Pastor Blaise and was explored in depth during pastoral interviews. It was determined that the new pastor would be best positioned to lead this effort. These conversations have continued throughout the summer and fall, involving collaborative discussions with all staff and extensive input from our music leaders for both current worship services.
At present, St. Matthew Lutheran Church offers two worship times with two distinct styles:
8:00 a.m. – This service utilizes liturgical worship orders and hymns, accompanied by the organ and a cantor, and occasionally includes the choir or handbells.
10:15 a.m. – This service incorporates many elements of liturgical worship while offering a variety of worship songs, accompanied by a lead singer, piano, guitars, and drums.
From January through September 2025, our average Sunday worship attendance has been approximately 83 at 8:00 a.m. and 208 at 10:15 a.m. Our second service is reaching its “comfortable” capacity, and as we look to the future, we need to prayerfully consider how to create more space for all who wish to worship with us.
After much discussion, we have identified four potential options to address this and seek your feedback:
Option 1: Move the first service to 9:00 a.m. (liturgical with hymns) and the second service to 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. (liturgical with contemporary worship songs). Sunday School and Adult Bible Study would be offered during both services.
Option 2: Create a third worship service. Proposed times would be 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 a.m., with worship styles determined later. Sunday School and Bible Study would take place during the 9:30 service.
Option 3: Maintain one service at 8:00 a.m. and hold two services at 10:15 a.m., utilizing both the chapel and sanctuary with different worship styles but the same preacher. Sunday School and Bible Study would likely occur at 9:15 a.m.
Option 4: Make no changes to current worship, Bible Study, or Sunday School schedules.
Each option (other than option 4, no changes) would have an effect on Bible Studies and Sunday School. We would seek to minimize disruption and continue providing high-quality learning opportunities for our entire community.
As we consider these possibilities, your input is essential. We are inviting all members of St. Matthew to participate in a brief worship survey to help guide our next steps. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts:
👉 Click the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PLMTM7Y to complete the survey or scan the QR code below:
Survey responses should be submitted by November 2.
We share this with you to keep you informed and invite your prayers and discernment as we move forward together. St. Matthew has always been a place of welcome, worship, and growth—and we trust that God will continue to guide us in serving one another faithfully in the days ahead.
