Enid, OK - St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church recently expanded its schedule of worship services to better accommodate those unable to attend a morning service, and those who prefer a more contemporary worship style.
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St. Matthew’s, 518 W. Randolph, started its Sunday evening Contemporary Worship Service on Sept. 10 with a blend of contemporary praise music and traditional liturgy.
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The new contemporary service is in addition to, and has not changed the traditional Sunday morning services.
Live acoustic music is spread throughout the contemporary service, with selections that will be familiar to listeners of contemporary Christian radio stations.
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The Rev. John Toles, pastor at St. Matthew’s, said the church decided to offer a contemporary service, in addition to its more traditional Sunday morning services, in order to reach a broader segment of the community.
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“I think contemporary Christian praise music speaks to many people,” Toles said. “Music speaks to people on many levels, and specific music speaks to specific people. Contemporary music allows people to enter into a relationship with the same God, but to approach worship in a different way.”
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The setting of the service also has been adjusted to make newcomers feel more at ease, Toles said. Worshippers meet for the contemporary service in St. Anne’s Hall, a relaxed lounge atmosphere with table seating adjacent to the church’s main sanctuary.
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“It’s like having a worship service in your living room,” Toles said. “It’s more comfortable, and for many it’s more accessible.”
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The core elements of the Episcopal service remain, but are presented without as many liturgical trappings.
“The Episcopal liturgy can be intimidating at times,” Toles said. “If you walk into a 10:30 service you have a bulletin, a couple of hymnals and prayer book you’re juggling, you’re sitting, standing and kneeling, and the first time you experience it can be a bit intimidating.”
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The contemporary service uses a large screen to display prayers, Scripture readings and responses, rather than the traditional use of the prayer book and hymnals.
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Toles said the time of the service also is intended to make church attendance and worship more accessible.
“Everyone is living very busy lives these days,” Toles said. “There are families who work on Sunday morning, there are families who can’t make it to a Sunday morning service, and we wanted to offer a different time of day for people to attend and participate in the life of the church."
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“We simply believe by having this service in the evening we’ll be able to reach more people with the Gospel message who might not be able to make it to Sunday morning,” he said, “and by having a contemporary service we hope to bring a little variety to the way we present the Gospel message.”
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While changes have been made to make the contemporary service more appealing to a new audience, Toles said the essential message of the worship service is the same.
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“The faith remains constant,” Toles said. “The core of our understanding of God remains the same throughout.”
Toles said the Episcopal Church welcomes all, and while he’s hopeful new people will try St. Matthew’s with the new service, the point of every service is the same: to bring Jesus Christ to the one person who needs the Gospel.
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“It is not about the many,” Toles said. “It is instead about the one. It is about the one soul that needs to hear they are loved by God. We don’t do this for the crowd. We do this for the one.”
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The Contemporary Worship Service takes place at 5 p.m. each Sunday at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 518 W. Randolph.
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Child care is provided in the church nursery during the service.
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Traditional Sunday morning services are also available at 8 and 10:30 a.m. and a mid-week service is at 12:15 p.m. each Wednesday.
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For more information call St. Matthew’s at (580) 237-4737 or visit stmatthewsenid.org.
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