Tucked into the Borough of Emmaus at the corner of Keystone and Elm Streets, St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church has spent more than six decades introducing neighbors to the rhythms of the Book of Common Prayer. Founded in 1965 and consecrated in 1971, the parish draws its name from St. Margaret of Scotland, the 11th-century queen whose care for the poor and whose founding of schools and hospitals still shape the congregation’s identity. Members describe themselves with the parish motto: "The St. Margaret’s Church family welcomes all people, reaches out to the community, and grows as we share our life in Christ."
From a Storefront Stove to a Sanctuary on the Hill
The parish began far more humbly than its current home suggests. Its earliest gathering place was a storefront near the present Buss Paint location, heated by a pot-bellied stove. The Rev. Packard Okie, who later oversaw construction of the Keystone-and-Elm building, made visiting members’ homes a near-monthly discipline. Theological students from nearby Lehigh University - the so-called "Leonard Hall Boys" - traveled by trolley to lead services in those years. St. Margaret’s first treasurer, Robert Sponeybarger, kept the first-year budget just above one hundred dollars, most of it for coal.
The congregation moved to a building on 4th Street (where the Raymond James office now stands) before settling at the present 150 Elm Street address. The Diocese of Bethlehem formally incorporated St. Margaret’s on July 13, 1965, and Bishop Frederick John Warnecke consecrated the church on November 14, 1971. Subsequent rectors include the Rev. Richard Cluett (1978 - 1984), the Rev. John Mickey (1985 - 1989), and the Rev. Canon Lexa Shallcross, whose nineteen-year tenure (1989 - 2010) is credited with much of the parish’s modern identity. The Rev. Jane Bender served as Priest-in-Charge from 2017 to 2021, during which time the Rev. Canon Laura Thomas Howell served as assistant pastor. The Reverend Canon Laura Thomas Howell, Obl.S.B., has led the parish as Priest-in-Charge since September 2021.
Physical growth has kept pace with the parish’s development. In 2000, an addition overseen by Junior Warden Dave Hornung and built by the Lamb Company created accessible office space, an elevator, and a small chapel. Four years later, an idea first introduced by intern Rev. Elizabeth Haynes came to fruition: the parish constructed a labyrinth, championed by the Rev. Betsy Diely, Senior Warden Sally West, and parishioner Kathy Leber. A Memorial Garden was added under Senior Warden Margot Bradbury, and the building has continued to evolve under current leadership to better welcome those who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices.
Sunday Morning: A Rite II Eucharist at Nine
The congregation gathers for its principal act of worship each Sunday at 9:00 a.m. The service is a Holy Eucharist, Rite II, drawn directly from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. As Mo. Laura often reminds the parish, Episcopalians pray what they believe - Lex orandi, lex credendi - so the liturgy itself carries the parish’s teaching. Communion is celebrated weekly, and the priest describes it as more than fellowship: an encounter with the risen Christ through the sacraments.
Music is led by Dodd Lamberton, the parish’s organist and pianist, who chooses preludes and postludes to frame the day’s hymns. The parish is currently exploring Taizé chants as part of its Sunday music, drawing on the simple, repeated melodies for which the ecumenical French community is known. Hymn teaching before services has become a regular feature, and parishioners are invited to suggest favorites. The service is offered in person at the parish church and is simultaneously live-streamed on the parish Facebook page; recordings remain available there as well.
The bulletin itself is the work of several hands. Janice Clymer, Nancy Cygan, and Kathy Leber assemble the schedule of lay participants, Lynne Wert designs and lays out the printed bulletin, and prayers of the people draw from names submitted by the congregation. Birthday and anniversary commemorations come from information shared with the parish office.
Midweek: Noon Day Prayer and Monday Bible Study
Worship at St. Margaret’s extends well beyond Sunday morning. Each Wednesday at noon, Mo. Laura leads a brief Virtual Noon Day Prayer service over Zoom. The virtual chapel opens at 11:45 a.m. for early arrivals, and the service itself lasts about thirty-five minutes. A short homily on the saint commemorated that day opens the liturgy; participants typically number around sixteen, joining from St. Margaret’s, other parishes in the diocese, and beyond.
On Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m., the parish gathers on Zoom for Bible Study. The group works through the readings appointed for the coming Sunday, following the Revised Common Lectionary. Book studies have included C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters, and a fall book group is planned around Amy-Jill Levine’s new book on Genesis. As with most of the parish’s online offerings, participants request the link through the parish office or by emailing laura@stmargaretsemmaus.org.
Team Jesus, Busy Bags, and RH Teens: Forming Children and Youth
Christian formation for children happens during the 9:00 a.m. Eucharist under the name "Team Jesus." Led by Connie Allport - known to the children as "Miss Connie" - the program follows a monthly rhythm: the first Sunday is Team Jesus Juniors for preschool and kindergarten, the second, third, and fifth Sundays gather Team Jesus Seniors for first through sixth graders, and on the fourth Sunday children of all ages remain in the nave with their families for the full service. Lessons pair God-centered messages with hands-on activities, framed as a "spiritual bridge" between family, faith community, and the wider world.
Younger visitors and infants are accommodated through Busy Bags stocked in the narthex and an unattended Infant and Toddler Room downstairs. For older youth, the parish hosts "Rush Hour" (RH Teens), a group for ages thirteen to eighteen that meets once or twice a month in parishioners’ homes for dinner, conversation, and mission projects.
Outreach: Living the Five Marks of Mission
St. Margaret’s frames its life together through the Five Marks of Mission shared across the Anglican Communion: proclaiming the Good News, teaching and nurturing new believers, responding to human need by loving service, transforming unjust structures, and safeguarding the integrity of creation. In practice, the parish has built a portfolio of local partnerships that put those commitments into action.
Every month, the second Sunday is set aside for collecting non-perishable items for the Groceries PLUS Food Bank of Bethel Bible Fellowship, which serves more than 178 families in the Emmaus area. The parish has also long supported the EHS Angel Network, which distributes food and hygiene baskets to qualified families of Emmaus High School students. During the 2021 holiday season the parish fulfilled a pledge to donate 170 bottles of shampoo for the Angel Network’s baskets; in the prior winter the Vestry distributed $700 split equally between the food bank and the Angel Network. Connie Allport and parish volunteers also assemble Daybreak goody bags in partnership with St. Anne’s, providing meals and Christmas treats for those experiencing food insecurity.
The Sharing Tree remains one of the parish’s most visible Advent projects. In cooperation with the East Penn School District’s Home and School Visitor, parishioners select ornaments for local families in need, with wrapped gifts, holiday meal supplies, and grocery gift cards delivered in December. During the pandemic, the program shifted entirely to gift cards, but it has since returned to a hybrid model. The parish has also supported the St. Andrew’s homeless shelter in East Allentown through regular breakfasts and bagged lunches, and parishioners have donated sleeping bags to a Street Medicine ministry where Mack West volunteers.
Beyond Emmaus, the parish helped fund the New Hope Campaign, contributing more than $150,000 to build schools and a college in war-torn Southern Sudan. The parish has also applied to become a Sacred Grounds™ site through the National Wildlife Federation, supporting pollinator habitat on the church grounds.
Fundraisers that Open the Doors to the Borough
St. Margaret’s annual Community Yard Sale, held in early June on the church grounds, has become a borough fixture. Donations of furniture, small appliances, kitchenware, tools, toys, and household goods come from across the community; proceeds support mission and ministry. Each October, the parish sets up at the staging area for the Emmaus Halloween Parade, opening its restrooms to the public and selling hot dogs and hot chocolate, with proceeds going to the food bank.
Other fundraisers include the Basket Social, a two-day event held in the parish hall; holiday wreath sales benefiting the St. Barnabas Center in Kutztown; and the RaiseRight (formerly Shop with Scrip) gift card program, which returns a percentage to the parish on each purchase. Twice a year the Body Shop at Home and Pampered Chef fundraisers bring in several hundred dollars; the Boscov’s Friends Helping Friends sale offers 25%-off shopping passes sold by parishioners for $5 each, with the entire donation retained by the church. Planned giving - from IRAs, life insurance, TOD accounts, trusts, annuities, and wills - is coordinated by Treasurer Andrew Werner for those who wish to remember the parish in their long-term generosity planning.
Sharing Space with Iglesia Luz de Esperanza
For more than a year, St. Margaret’s has shared its building with Iglesia Luz de Esperanza, a Spanish-language Seventh Day Adventist congregation that meets on Saturdays. The two communities have found ways to live alongside one another - Iglesia now hosts a Pathfinders (Christian Scouting) group on Friday evenings, and the parish makes space for them whenever its own calendar allows. The relationship has grown in both directions: Iglesia’s leadership has begun donating to St. Margaret’s, and the two congregations have launched a cooperative English-as-a-Second-Language program held on Saturday afternoons, drawing volunteers and teachers from both communities.
The parish hall is also home to a Girl Scout troop that meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays, a Wednesday-evening yoga class open to members and the wider community, and a Friday-evening Pathfinders gathering hosted by the Spanish-speaking partners. On Saturday afternoons, the ESL program runs from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Between these regular users, the building stays busy almost every day of the week.
Music, the Labyrinth, and the Memorial Garden
Dodd Lamberton’s conversations with the parish about Taizé chants and hymn teaching are the most recent chapter in a long musical history. The Ellie Escher music camp, hosted at the parish twice each summer, brought 33 students - the largest group ever - to the parish in July 2026, with a second week scheduled for August. Each camp closes with a Friday-evening performance that is free and open to the community, and many campers have moved on to careers in music.
Outside, the 2004 labyrinth offers a contemplative path for walking prayer, while the Memorial Garden - built under Senior Warden Margot Bradbury - provides a place of remembrance. The 2000 addition created accessible office space, an elevator, and a small chapel, and the Vestry has continued to remove pews to open more space for those who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices. A priest’s reflection in summer 2026 noted that a visitor in an electric wheelchair had struggled to find a comfortable seat at a recent concert, prompting further work on accessible seating arrangements.
Wider Connections: Diocese, Province, and Communion
St. Margaret’s belongs to the Diocese of Bethlehem, currently led by the Rt. Rev. Kevin Nichols. Diocesan offices are housed at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The diocese is currently in the process of merging with another diocese to form the new Diocese of the Susquehanna, a transition highlighted in the spring 2026 weekly reflections as a "gargantuan" effort that is nonetheless moving ahead quickly. Bishop Audrey Scanlan of the merging diocese and Bishop Kevin Nichols have held joint clergy conferences, and a diocesan Social Justice Summit and the annual Gather formation event are scheduled for May in Camp Hill.
Beyond the diocese, St. Margaret's is a parish of The Episcopal Church, presided over by the Most Rev. Michael Curry. The Episcopal Church is itself a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, whose spiritual focus is the Archbishop of Canterbury. The parish's recommended online resources for prayer and Christian formation include Forward Movement, Mission St. Clare, the Lectionary Page, and the Satucket lectionary.
Clergy, Staff, and Lay Leadership
The Rev. Canon Laura Thomas Howell, Obl.S.B. - known affectionately as "Mo. Laura" - serves as Priest-in-Charge and can be reached at 610-217-4837 in pastoral emergencies. Dodd Lamberton is the parish’s organist-in-residence; Lynne Wert serves as secretary; Jessica Stubits as webmaster; Lynne Veazie as videographer; and Brian P. Dunton as custodian. The Senior Warden is Kathy Leber; the Junior Warden is Maggie Werner; the Treasurer is Andrew Werner; and the Clerk of the Vestry is George Allport. Connie Allport serves as Senior Warden Emerita and directs Christian Education ("Team Jesus"). The Vestry includes Greg Cygan, Lori Sysak, and Sue Schaffner; Ken Schaffner chairs the Finance Committee. Jen Burkhardt serves as Parish Outreach Coordinator, and Janice Clymer has organized many of the parish’s fundraisers. The members of the parish - "the People of St. Margaret’s" - are formally recognized as ministers alongside the clergy and staff.
Welcoming Newcomers
Anyone is welcome to walk in for the 9:00 a.m. Sunday Eucharist at 150 Elm Street, or to join online via the parish Facebook page. Worship follows the Book of Common Prayer, with hymnals and service leaflets provided in the pew; the only attire required is whatever visitors feel comfortable wearing. Children are welcome in the nave, with Team Jesus forming partway through the service and Busy Bags available for those who would prefer to stay close to their families. There is an unattended Infant and Toddler Room downstairs for those who need it. Coffee hour follows the service, and several fellowship events - the Pasta Potluck in September, the Basket Social in November, the Poor Man’s Gambit Celtic concert, and the annual St. Margaret’s Day celebration in November - are open to all who wish to attend. The parish asks only that visitors introduce themselves, sign up for the newsletter, and let the priest know how the community can help them find a home in the church.