Throughout the month of December, St. Matthew Lutheran Church will be holding a festival of lights to promote the church’s food pantry.

The St. Matthew’s Food Pantry has been owned and operated by the church for over 20 years and currently serves 100 families per week. The food pantry is open Thursday evenings and Fridays during the mid-day. Both non-perishable food items and cash donations are accepted.

The Festival of Lights was created by Jim Kurtz and Pastor Blaise Sedney and consists of 43,000 lights that have been synchronized to holiday music. The festival is open every night from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. during Fridays and Saturdays.

Once you get to the church, make sure you enter from the Route 22 entrance; you will be directed to back into one of the main parking spots facing the church. From that vantage point, you will be able to see how well the church has been decorated with over 43,000 lights. They have a huge Christmas tree created entirely of lights, a manger scene, and several abstract designs created on the grounds as well as on the roof. You then tune your radio to 107.5 and the show begins. For twenty minutes, you can enjoy festive holiday music and a light display while listening on your radio. You can sit through the program as many times as you would like. Once you decide to leave, there is a donation stop for your canned goods. Hot drinks and cookies are also available in the vestibule.

Susan Marco, a patron of the festival, says “It’s really impressive how the lights are synchronized to the music and I love that it’s for a good cause. I myself donated an entire bag of groceries to the food bank.”

The display times will be adjusted in order to accommodate for other church functions. If you would like to check the current schedule you can call 410-838-3178 or visit www.smlc.org.