Ambassadors Visit St. Matthew’s, Springfield
Our ambassadors visited St. Matthew’s in Springfield, Pa, twice. One ambassador visited October 16 and three of us visited yesterday. It wasn’t intentional; we just got our signals crossed.
We discovered a well-kept suburban church with all things in good order. The property, which they are about to renovate, seemed to be loved and cared for. The worship service was well-structured with good leadership. The congregation was quiet and attentive, which may seem like an odd observation but many of the congregations we visit are “busy” with lots of moving around. The supply pastor, Rev. David Oppold, told us he was a member of the congregation and often supplied pulpits. He spoke movingly of his work with hospice patients and the privilege of conducting funerals.
The choir of about 15 was one of the largest choirs we encountered. Most churches we visit have no choir. It looked like a lay member led the children’s message which was well-attended. They also have a seminarian working with them, Laura Gorton.
The attendance at the worship service numbered about 80 or so.
The service contained a stewardship message as they are about to embark on a major renovation program. The plan is to raise a $200,000-$300,000 and borrow about one million. Their lay leader stood before the congregation and announced a program designed to encourage weekly gifts of $40.
We cannot help but contrast what we saw at St. Matt’s with our own experience.
A typical Redeemer worship service had an attendance of about one fourth that number . . . and we borrowed about one fourth of the amount they plan to borrow for the same purposes. Our leaders stood before our congregation and advocated for weekly gifts on a tiered basis — $15, $30 and $60 — and had seen improvement in giving. Redeemer’s renovations were absolutely necessary to moving our ministry forward as the working rooms like the kitchen had not been updated in 70 or more years. We did this in an atmosphere of steady membership growth (unlike most congregations in SEPA). The difference in our situation is SEPA leadership attempted to seize our assets, evict our congregation and sue our lay members.
We certainly wish the people of St. Matthew’s better luck with their project!