The Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Field Notes

For Pastoral Care 

Call 215-247-7466 and leave a message. If you are experiencing a pastoral emergency

text or call the Rev. Dr. Mary Barber at 845-527-9545.

Have you had an address, email, or phone number update?

Send us your update here.

Field Notes submission requests must be emailed by Tuesday at noon to ndiskan@stmartinec.org.

This email is best viewed as a webpage. Click here to make sure you don't miss anything!

Sunday, August 2, 2026

8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist (Spoken)

9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist for Children, Youth, & Families

Under the Tent

9:30 a.m. All-Ages Parable Study: “The Mustard Seed” (Mark 4:30-2)

Under the Tent

10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music

Also via livestream here

Followed by Worship Reflections (in person only)

This Sunday's Readings

Genesis 32:22-31 | Psalm 17:1-7,16 | Romans 9:1-5 | Matthew 14:13-21

Rector's Note

"St Martin’s is in the early planning stages of a capital campaign. 

The project involves 

• new heating and the addition of air conditioning for the church sanctuary
• an elevator to go up to the sanctuary or down to the basement (undercroft) in the entryway (narthex)
• stairs going down to the undercroft in the narthex 
• renovating the undercroft to be usable space for Sunday School and other groups
• air conditioning and renovating the parish hall
• renovating the first floor bathroom in the parish house

We have architectural drawings done by AOS Architects for these projects. As part of our planning, we asked AOS and Delran to give us updated cost estimates."

Continue reading here.

Features

Iced Tea & Chess Under the Tent

Weekly on Thursdays through August 27th

4:00-6:00 p.m.

Rain Space: Houston Room

This summer’s Iced Tea & Chess Under the Tent series continues each Thursday through the end of August! Our Iced Tea & Chess series is a great way to get to know each other, enjoy some snacks, and beat the summer heat with cool drinks and/or chess. No RSVP needed, but if you are able, please consider bringing a snack to share. We look forward to seeing you there!

A Faithful Journey: Preparing for Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation

This fall, St. Martin's will offer confirmation classes for youth and adults. All seekers, age 12 and over, are welcome to join us between the 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. service for five Sundays: Sept. 20th and 27th; Oct. 11th and 18th; and Nov. 8th. If you are interested in making a public confirmation or reaffirmation of your baptismal vows or being received into the Episcopal Church at the end of this course, please fill out this form by August 14th. All are welcome to join for one or all of the five parish-wide sessions and the additional opportunities even if you are unsure about being confirmed/received. Click here for more details.

Wellspring’s Spiritual Classics Book Group Coming This Fall 

C.S. Lewis, Henri Nouwen, Julian of Norwich, Thomas Merton, Teresa of Avila, Meister Eckhart—we’ve heard their names but often haven’t had a chance to read their books. Is there a title you’ve heard about and always wanted to read? Is there a favorite that you’d like to read again? Would you value reading such books in a small group so you can talk about their insights together?

The Spiritual Classics Book Group will function like many book groups, meeting monthly in participants’ homes, deciding together on the year’s list oftitles. Although Christian writers are the main focus, spiritual classics from other traditions could be considered as well. Watch for further notices about our first meeting in September, and meanwhile, if you’d like to express interest in it, contact Lorie Simmons (loriesimmons@comcast.net) or Mike Gillum (mikegillum@gmail.com).

Children, Youth, & Families

Summer Bible Series: The Parables of Jesus

Sundays, Now - Aug 16th

Between the 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. services

This Sunday's Parable: “The Mustard Seed” (Mark 4:30-2)

All ages are invited to encounter the parables of Jesus -- those elusive, challenging, and deceptively simple stories with imagery from everyday life, which teach something about spiritual realities -- with a story told using Godly Play followed by a collective activity led by members of St. Martin's community that corresponds to the story (i.e. singing, planting, baking). If you have a skill you'd like to teach related to one of the following stories, email Rev. Luke at lselles@stmartinec.org.

• August 9: “The Sower” (Matt 13:1-23)
• August 16: “The Leaven” (Luke 13:20-1)

Summer Movie Series: Frozen Sing-along

Next Saturday, August 8th

5:30 - 8:00 p.m. in the Parish House

All ages are invited to join for pizza and a movie Saturday, August 8th! Please RSVP by the Friday before the movie night with your dietary restrictions and number of folks by emailing lselles@stmartinec.org.

Diocesan Youth Wild Adventure at Valley Forge

Sunday, August 30th

4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Washington Memorial Chapel 

2000 Valley Forge Park Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406

Get ready for a fun evening of adventure, music, food, and fellowship to kick off your fall! Youth and their family members from across the diocese are invited to join us for our Diocesan Youth Wild Adventure at Valley Forge National Historical Park on 8/30 from 4 pm - 6:30 p.m. Enjoy live music, wilderness walks, hands-on craft projects like nature mandalas, dinner, and outdoor worship under the open sky that will inspire you for the coming school year. The Rev. Dr. Charles Lattimore Howard will be our homilist. To register, go to this link.

Summer Sunday Musicians

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to offer music this Summer. Thank you to Dorothy Stevens for her musical offerings last Sunday. Upcoming Sundays will feature the following musicians:

Aug 2: Ron Chelsvig, Voice & Guitar

Aug 9: Bill Bixby, Voice

Aug 16: Jonathan Leeds, Clarinet

Aug 23: Liam Maher, Violin

Aug 30: B'roke Ensemble, St. Martin's Amateur Baroque Ensemble

Title: A Coming Storm, Date: 1863, Artist: Sanford Gifford (American, 1823-1880), Medium: Oil on canvas, Credit Line: 125th Anniversary Acquisition. Gift of the McNeil Americana Collection, 2004

Nature and Spirit: Prayerful Looking at American Landscapes

Sunday, August 16th

1:30 - 4:30 p.m. at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Co-sponsored by Wellspring, Interfaith Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Office for Community Engagement

This Mini-Retreat will take place in the PMA’s America250 exhibit, A Nation of Artists. We will focus on landscape paintings that express a variety of religious and spiritual commitments, helped create our national identity, and fueled our nation’s westward expansion. Guided meditation on two paintings will be followed by an opportunity for participants to explore the exhibit and select a work of art to contemplate on their own or with a partner. The retreat will conclude with a tour of the works selected, each person sharing their unique experience of prayerful looking. Register here.

Facilitator: Rev. John B. Hougen, PhD, Co-chair of Wellspring, Art of Interfaith Understanding Coordinator for Interfaith Philadelphia, and Volunteer Docent at the PMA.

Cost: The sliding scale fee for this program is $30-$150, with a suggested price of $50.

Parking and admission to the museum are free thanks to the generosity of the PMA’s Office of Community Engagement. 

Take Action

Kate Maus, Cary Nicholas and friend Laura Siena at Venga Pues

Eat In Norristown

From Cary Nicholas:

Our neighbors in Norristown are being very hard hit by ICE raids. Norristown’s large Latino community has been devastated by constant detentions and deportations. Families are losing their breadwinners, and businesses are suffering because people are afraid to go out and congregate. 

So what better way to enjoy some good food and companionship than to go eat in one of Norristown’s many immigrant-owned and -run restaurants? I have been exploring and here is a list of suggested places to go. (There are many more, so if you find any you like, please let me know! Carynich757@gmail.com)

Grab a friend or two or many and GO!

Sermon

The Rev. Dr. Mary Barber

July 26, 2026

"Have you understood all this? Have you understood all this, St Martin’s? Right, me neither. I love it when our scripture contains a joke, a joke at the expense of the disciples, and us. Because who can ever fully understand a parable? When can we ever get out of these stories all there is to learn? That is one reason we keep coming back here, to question, and puzzle together, to ask what these stories of Jesus have to say to us, today."

Continue reading here.

Wednesday Noon Eucharist

Mary Chapel

Wellspring Worship Reflections

After the 10:30 a.m. service

Houston Room

Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA)

Thursdays 7-8:30 p.m. (Library)

Al Anon

Sundays 6-7 p.m. (Houston Room)

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

1 - Tuesdays 8-9 p.m. (Houston Room)

2 - Thursdays 7-8 p.m. (Houston Room)

3 - Fridays 7-8 p.m. (Houston Room)

4 - Sundays 8-9 p.m. (Houston Room)