An innovative approach to Sunday services begins this month at St. Matthew/San Mateo in Auburn. The South King County Episcopal Church – a diverse parish of Anglo, Japanese American, African American, Native American, Fijian and Hispanic congregants – started a bilingual service at 11 a.m.

“We wanted to join together our English-speaking and Spanish-speaking parishioners, and also focus on children and young people,” said the Rev. Susan Armer, rector.

The new service format has parishioners meeting at 11 a.m. in the parish hall where the groups begin the liturgy by choosing from one of four groups: children, youth, English-speaking and Spanish-speaking. For the eucharist (communion), the four groups meet as a whole in the St. Matthew sanctuary.

In addition, the church has started a multi-cultural children’s choir who will perform at the 11 a.m. service and meets at 6:15 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday nights for rehearsal.

For those seeking a more traditional Eucharist, there is a 9 a.m. service in English without music.

“We are a multi-cultural and inclusive congregation, and we’re pleased that the City of Auburn has announced it’s commitment to being an inclusive community also,” Armer said.

St. Matthew/San Mateo is located at 123 L St. NE. For more information, contact the church office at 253-833-0890, or visit http://stmatthew-sanmateo.org.