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The Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Field Notes
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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.
| | Center for Courageous Women of Faith | | |
Last Thursday a few St Martin’s folks attended Need-in-Deed’s annual Soirée fundraiser. We saw many of the teachers we have met when observing classes and at the spring Shout Out where students show off their year-long projects. We heard stories from four different teachers about how their students were transformed by their service learning projects. We met others interested in supporting public education. And one of us won a raffle basket!
Need-in-Deed was founded by three St Martin’s members. Forty years later, it has grown significantly while staying true to its original mission.
On Monday, I attended the opening of the Center for Courageous Women of Faith, an exhibit housed in the old St Paul’s/Episcopal Community Services building on 3rd St downtown. The exhibit tells the stories of the Philadelphia Eleven and Bishop Barbara Harris. The Philadelphia Eleven were the first eleven women ordained to the priesthood in The Episcopal Church in 1974, two years before women’s ordination was authorized by General Convention. The ordination took place at Church of the Advocate, presided over by three retired bishops. Barbara Harris was the first woman ordained as a bishop in The Episcopal Church and also the first woman bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Continue reading here.
| | Consecration Sunday is Coming! | | |
Congregations that approach financial stewardship from a biblical perspective do not view the money Christians give to their church merely as a way to pay its bills. Rather, such congregations see financial contributions as a way to help people grow spiritually in their relationship with God by supporting their church’s mission and ministry with a percentage of their incomes.
Our congregation’s finance committee has selected the Consecration Sunday Stewardship Program to teach the biblical and spiritual principles of generous giving as part of our stewardship education emphasis this year. Consecration Sunday is based on the biblical philosophy that the giver gives for his or her own spiritual development, rather than because the church needs to receive. Instead of treating people like members of a social club who should pay dues, we will treat people like followers of Jesus Christ who want to give unselfishly as an act of discipleship. Consecration Sunday encourages proportionate, systematic giving in response to the question, “What percentage of my income is God calling me to give?”
During morning worship on Consecration Sunday, we ask attendees and members to commit financially to our church’s missionary, benevolent, and educational ministries in this community and around the world. Every attendee and member who completes an Estimate of Giving Card does so voluntarily by attending morning worship on Consecration Sunday. We urge people to attend who feel strongly opposed to completing a card. The procedure is designed so that no one feels personally embarrassed if he or she chooses not to fill out a card. We will do no home solicitation to ask people to complete cards.
During morning worship, our guest leader will give a brief message of instruction and inspiration, culminating in members making their commitments as a confidential act of worship. We will encourage participation in Consecration Sunday events through the Consecration Sunday team and governing board members. Since we will not make follow-up visits to ask people to complete their cards, we will do our best to inform, inspire, and encourage everyone to attend Consecration Sunday worship.
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A Consecration Sunday Reflection
Written by Parishioner Bill Bixby
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Blessed Kin in Christ—
So, perhaps folks will recognize this famous Bible verse.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that God gave the only Son, that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life.
An elegantly simple, yet all-embracing, Word of God. It has been called “the gospel—good news—in miniature” by Martin Luther—named, by the way, for beloved St. Martin.
For us, for this parish now, in this season of calling forth financial gifts for the living out of the gospel, it’s those first two verbs that matter most. God loves; God gives.
God loves—unconditionally, with a boundless will to bless, and a passion to forge life-imparting, lasting relationship. With us.
God gives—in the liberating, costly sending of Jesus, the Beloved. To us.
Because we have received—freely and transformingly—God’s loving and God’s giving, we are gifted to give. Gratefully.
On Consecration Sunday, November 15, we will come together for free-hearted committing to give—in community, in worship. And for celebratory feasting—in community, following worship. Gratefully.
God loves! God gives! We’re gifted to give! Let the whole parish come together, gratefully, on November 15!
More details to come!
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Third Sunday Music Series
This Sunday, October 18th
5:00 p.m.
Join us this Sunday for the second in our brand-new music series of chamber concerts throughout this program year. Each third Sunday of the month we will welcome wonderful musicians from Philadelphia and beyond. On October 18, we welcome Augustine Mercante, countertenor, who will delight us with a fabulous concert celebrating music that speaks to the heart, connected by the power of words and story-telling.
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Team Green Bean Canned Food Drive
It's time for the Thanksgiving meal bags at St. James School. Like previous years, St. Martin's has been asked to be on Team Green Bean! Please consider purchasing a few cans of green beans to contribute to this effort - we are aiming for at least 300 cans of beans. In addition, St. James asks you to consider donating a $25 gift card to either ShopRite or Aldi so that all families can purchase a holiday turkey or ham. A gift card is placed in each meal bag. The bags will be given out shortly before Thanksgiving. Please deliver your green beans by Friday, Nov. 6th to the bench in the Parish House foyer. For safekeeping, gift cards should be delivered to Noor Diskan, Director of Communications & Events.
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Save the Date: All Soul's Day Columbarium Reception
Sunday, November 1st
4:00 p.m. in the Mary Hare Taylor Night Columbarium
Join us on Sunday, November 1st at 4:00 p.m. to celebrate and commemorate those we have loved and lost with prayers and reflections while reconnecting with long-time St. Martin’s friends and neighbors. A Requiem Choral Eucharist of hope and remembrance, with choral music sung by our Section Leaders, will follow at 5:00 p.m.
Please contact Cathy Glazer (cathyglazer@verizon.net) or Debra Roberts (DebraDRoberts@comcast.net) with any questions regarding the reception.
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Small Engine Ministry
St Martin's member David Zopf is offering his gift of small engine repair to members of St Martin's. You can email him here about your weedwacker, snowblower, or other tool that needs fixing, with your phone number, and he'll get back to you. You pay him for parts and he suggests a donation to the church. More details here!
| | Children, Youth, & Families | | | | |
Introducing Our New Associate Rector for Children, Youth, and Families: The Rev. Shanna Hawks
Click here to read Rev. Mary's announcement in full.
"Dear Members and Friends of St. Martin's,
I am happy to announce our new Associate Rector for Children, Youth, and Families, The Rev. Shanna Hawks. Shanna will start at St Martin's on November 1. She comes with a heart for CYF ministry and a wealth of experience. I know she will be a great addition to this community and will carry forward the work Rev. Luke has so ably begun. I can't wait for you to meet her!
Mary+"
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St. Martin's Church School
Weekly on Sundays, 9:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
Join us weekly immediately following the 9 a.m. service in Hilary House, around 9:45 a.m., for time with Bible stories and stories of our faith. To learn more about Godly Play, the curriculum that we will be using for ages 4-12, you can click here.
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Requiem Choral Eucharist for the Feast of All Souls
Sunday, Nov. 1st
5:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary
All are invited to a service of hope and remembrance with choral music sung by the Section Leaders of St. Martin's. A reception and time of reflection and prayer in the Mary Hare Taylor Knight Columbarium will precede the service at 4:00 p.m.
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Chestnut Hill United Church Arts and Culture Board: Call for Grant Proposals
The Arts and Culture Board of the Chestnut Hill United Church is soliciting proposals from artists addressing one of the following themes: social justice, environmental justice, and hope in a dark world. Recipients of this grant will develop and produce a work(s) that fulfills at least two of the following: enhances spiritual life in the congregation; increases the church’s visibility in the community; and establishes the church’s identity as an advocate for the intrinsic value of the arts. Grant Range: $500 to $1500 depending on the scope and size of the proposal. Click here for more information. If you have any questions, please contact: artsandculture@chestnuthillunited.org
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The Rev. Dr. Mary Barber
Pentecost 20
Sun., Oct. 11th
OK, for all those folks who say they don’t like the Old Testament because it is too violent, have they read today’s Gospel?
The king gives a wedding banquet for his son. He sends his servants to invite people, and they respond, Not only am I not going to your stupid wedding, I’m going to beat you up and kill you! Really, could they not have just said, no thanks?
The king responds to the violence of these ungrateful extreme party poopers with his own violence. He kills the offenders and burns their city. Continue reading here.
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Tyrone Whiting
Choral Evensong
Sun., Oct. 11th
There is something rather wonderful about Evensong. We come into a church and for a little while, we stop doing. We stop explaining, organising, planning, solving, and trying to make things happen. We listen, we sing, we worship; together.
I spend a great deal of my life thinking about listening and singing: what and how we sing; breath and phrasing, balance and diction, the relationship between choir and organ, and what happens when the congregation sings together.
Continue reading here.
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Wednesday Noon Eucharist
Mary Chapel
Biblical Studies In Person
Fridays at 10:30 a.m.
Saturdays at 11:00 a.m.
Houston Room
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Biblical Studies on Zoom
or by Phone
Mondays at 7:00 p.m.
Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m.
Please contact Cathy Glazer for the Zoom information.
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Non-Perishable Food Collection for St. Luke's
Ongoing: Please deliver to the wagons on the Parish House porch.
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Morning Prayer on Zoom
Weekdays at 7:30 a.m.
Email morningprayer@ stmartinec.org for the link.
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Blessed Baking
Fridays at 9:00 a.m.
Parking Lot
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Wellspring Worship Reflections
After the 10:30 a.m. service
Houston Room
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Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA)
Thursdays 7-8:30 p.m. (Library)
Al Anon
Sundays 6-7 p.m. (Houston Room)
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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)
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Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
8000 St. Martin's Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118
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