Sharing the Cloak on Ashford Dunwoody Road
St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church stands in the heart of Brookhaven, just northeast of Atlanta, where its 1950s brick campus stretches across seven acres fronting Ashford Dunwoody Road. The parish takes its name from St. Martin of Tours, the Roman soldier whose most famous act was the cutting of his cloak to share with a beggar, and the church itself was planted here in 1951 as part of a diocesan plan to ring the growing city of Atlanta with new congregations. From a chapel gathering at Oglethorpe University to a full parish serving hundreds of families, a day school, and one of the area's longest-running food pantries, St. Martin's carries forward that original vision of a church rooted in the suburbs and reaching outward into the wider community.
The parish's mission, set out plainly on its home page, is "To follow Christ and lead others to Him." The Rev. Monica Mainwaring, the sixth rector, serves alongside an associate rector, a deacon, assisting clergy, and a staff that includes a Minister for Community Engagement, an Interim Music Minister, and a Director of Development. Their ministries take shape on a campus that includes the nave, Gable Hall, multiple classroom buildings, the Chapel of the Resurrection columbarium, a gymnasium, and a cafeteria, with about 600 students attending St. Martin's Episcopal School on the same grounds.
A Church in the Ring Around Atlanta
St. Martin in the Fields was organized in 1951 as one of several missions planned to encircle Atlanta in what was then the city's suburbs. It took its name after the home parish of General James Oglethorpe, the first governor of Georgia, and began its services in the chapel of Oglethorpe University. A seven-acre parcel on Ashford Dunwoody Road was purchased from the university, and the first service in the present nave was held in 1954. The mission became a full parish of the diocese in 1956.
The first educational building, Pierce Hall, was completed in 1961, and the nave was enlarged to its present size in 1963. Gable Hall, completed in 1977, now houses the parish offices, meeting facilities, and the parish hall. Two classroom buildings followed: Claiborne Hall in 1988 and Young Hall in 1991. A major capital campaign in the late 1990s added the New Hall classroom building, the gymnasium, and the cafeteria, and saw the renovation of Gable Hall and the older Nicholson and Pierce buildings. St. Mark's Children's Chapel was created during that work in Lower Pierce Hall.
The school, founded as a kindergarten of two classes with 43 children in 1959, has grown into a co-educational day school serving approximately 600 students from age two through eighth grade. In 1988 the Chapel of the Resurrection, commonly called the Columbarium, was established as a final resting place for the ashes of parish families. By 2013 all 264 of its original niches had been sold, and a parish-wide campaign enabled a doubling of the chapel, adding 278 niches for a total of 542. In 2001 the parish marked its fiftieth anniversary by raising $50,000 to help found a new mission, St. Columba's, in the rapidly growing North Atlanta community of Suwanee, some twenty miles north. The school reached its own fiftieth anniversary in 2009.
A new Middle School building was added in 2012. In 2018, Claiborne Hall, home to the school's Early Childhood program, was rebuilt after an arson fire and given a complete revisioning. The church received a new roof in 2020, and during the same year the Suthers Center food pantry relocated from Chamblee onto the church campus, where it remains with its expanded drive-thru operation. Wonder Church was launched outdoors in 2021 and has since grown into a year-round indoor alternative service for families and children. Renovations to the office corridor and Lower Gable followed in 2022 and 2023, and a capital campaign was launched in 2024 for major work on the church's HVAC, prayer garden, kitchen, Gable Hall, and a new café, supporting the parish's 75th anniversary.
The list of rectors tells much of the parish's story: the Rev. A. L. Burgreen (1952 to 1958), the Rev. Canon Samuel T. Cobb (1959 to 1965), the Rev. Martin Dewey Gable (1965 to 1989), the Rev. Douglas B. Remer (1991 to 2002), the Rev. John F. McCard (2003 to 2017), and the Rev. Monica Mainwaring, who has served as rector since 2019.
Sundays at St. Martin's
Three worship services are held inside the church on most Sundays. All are open to anyone, and communion is celebrated at each one. On the first Sunday of every month the whole parish gathers for ONE St. Martin's at 10:00 a.m., a service of Holy Eucharist with processionals, full choir, and communion that combines elements of the other three services and offers leadership opportunities for children, youth, and families. A parish meal in Gable Hall follows, and newcomers are invited to gather at 9:00 a.m. in the Parlor, off the foyer through the Gable Hall entrance, to meet clergy and lay leadership.
At 8:00 a.m., the early service of Holy Eucharist offers an intimate setting for those who prefer a quieter start to the day. At 9:00 a.m., Wonder Church is an alternative, all-ages eucharistic service designed for children, youth, and families. Music, prayer, hands-on creation, and the Gospel story are woven together in a highly participatory format where the congregation is encouraged not to sit still. At 11:00 a.m., the principal service of Holy Eucharist includes processionals, full choir, and communion. Both the 10:00 a.m. ONE service on first Sundays and the 11:00 a.m. service are livestreamed on St. Martin's YouTube channel.
Wonder Church and Children's Ministry
Children are at the heart of St. Martin's weekly life. Children's Formation is offered from 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. on most Sundays for children age four through fifth grade. Pre-K through second grade use Godly Play, a Montessori approach to telling the stories of the Bible and the traditions of the church, in Lower Pierce Hall. Third through fifth graders follow Weaving God's Promises, a comprehensive Episcopal curriculum modeled on the framework of Holy Eucharist, where children experience the gospel story, learn church traditions, and practice living out God's love in daily life.
The nursery welcomes infants through age four and is staffed by caregivers. During the school year it is open from 8:45 to 11:45 a.m. on most Sundays; on the first Sunday of each month, when the whole congregation worships together, nursery care is available from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Wonder Church, launched outdoors in 2021 and now held in the sanctuary, gathers children, youth, and their families around music, prayer, art, and the Gospel story in a setting where sitting still is not the goal. It is one of the three services held most Sundays, with elements of it woven into the monthly ONE St. Martin's gathering.
Youth in Sixth Through Twelfth Grade
The youth ministry at St. Martin's welcomes students in sixth through twelfth grade with the vision of joyfully exploring faith, exciting the soul, and growing spiritually in the love of Christ. On most Sundays between September and May, middle and high school youth meet at 10:00 a.m. for study and fellowship in the Youth Room in Lower Gable Hall. They take part in the Episcopal Youth Community, serve in the wider parish through service projects, and join retreats and pilgrimages together. A weekly e-newsletter, the St. Martin's Messenger, keeps families informed of upcoming events.
Youth may serve as acolytes in worship after training by adult volunteers. Confirmation at St. Martin's typically happens in a youth's freshman or sophomore year of high school, with all high schoolers encouraged to begin the journey.
Adults: Christian Formation, EfM, and the Daughters of the King
Adult Christian Formation meets every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. from September through most of May. The parish library, in Burgreen Library, holds more than seven hundred titles on biblical studies, Episcopal Church history and practice, personal spiritual growth, and a reference section that includes complete sets of the Interpreter's Bible. Children are welcome in the library, which has its own children's section.
Education for Ministry (EfM), a four-year curriculum administered by the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, meets Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the Parlor. Participants examine the Christian tradition, biblical exegesis and interpretation, systematic theology, church history, ethics, liturgics, and ascetical theology, enrolling in nine-month cycles. A small group of parishioners gathers on Zoom every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. for Evening Prayer. A men's lectionary Bible study meets on alternate Tuesday evenings by Zoom. The Brown Bag Theology book club meets at noon on the second Thursday of each month in Burgreen Library.
The Order of the Daughters of the King is an Anglican lay religious order open to confirmed women. The St. Clare Chapter at St. Martin's meets on the second Saturday of each month at 9:30 a.m. for refreshments, followed by the meeting at 10:00 a.m., and assists with funeral services, receptions, and special events. All women of the parish are members of the Episcopal Church Women, and three women's guilds - St. Elizabeth's Chapter (second Tuesday), St. Monica's Chapter (third Wednesday), and the Daughters of the King - support parish life and outreach. Socially Active, Growing, Engaged Seniors (S.A.G.E.s), formed in 2014, hosts five or six daytime gatherings each year around Atlanta for adults who want to stay connected socially and educationally.
The Suthers Center and a Parish-Wide Ministry of Outreach
Outreach at St. Martin's is shaped by the prophet Micah's call to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God, and by the example of St. Martin of Tours, who shared his cloak. The parish focuses its giving, volunteering, and advocacy on three issues: food insecurity, housing stability, and mental health. All efforts are reviewed regularly by the parish's Outreach Commission, which publishes a mission statement and quarterly report.
The Suthers Center for Christian Outreach is the primary outreach ministry of St. Martin's. Its food pantry began in 1979 at Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church, and the Emergency Assistance program grew out of the parish's St. Elizabeth's Guild in the early 1980s. The center is named for Father Derwent Suthers, beloved former associate rector at St. Martin's, who in 2007 invited community churches to join the parish in a local outreach center. Brookhaven Christian Church and Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church remain strong partners, and the center has been managed and housed by St. Martin's ever since.
Today the Suthers Center operates from the church campus. The Food Pantry provides nutritional food through the Atlanta Community Food Bank and federal and state programs, with a drive-thru on Saturday mornings from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. New clients register on their first visit and receive a card for ongoing visits. The Emergency Assistance Program offers help with utility and phone bills and referrals for shelter and medical care, served on Saturday mornings from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. at the church; it does not provide rent assistance and does not give out MARTA cards in the summer. The Hall Assistance and Transition Service (HATS) honors Bruce Hall, former chair of the Suthers Center Board, and has sheltered more than two hundred families and individuals, partnering with the Salvation Army's Red Shields, Georgia Recovery Center, Atlanta Mission, and local hotels. Volunteers are needed for Thursday mornings (8:30 to 10:30 a.m.) and on Saturdays from 6:45 to 10:00 a.m.
The parish supports Holy Comforter Episcopal Church, a diverse parish founded in 1893 in the heart of Atlanta, where about sixty percent of the congregation lives with mental illness. St. Martin's directs outreach funding to Holy Comforter's Friendship Center and, through St. Elizabeth's Guild, regularly attends and serves dinner after the Wednesday 6:30 p.m. worship service, now pivoting toward the Sunday 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist and lunch. Interfaith Outreach Home (IOH), founded in 1989, provides apartments in Doraville and intensive counseling, life-skills training, and parenting and job-readiness support for homeless families; the annual Turkey Fry at St. Martin's raises money for IOH Thanksgiving meals, and St. Monica's Guild hosts the Bridge Luncheon for IOH.
St. Martin's has sponsored the construction of a Habitat for Humanity home each year for more than thirty years, now joining other area congregations for the annual Spring Faith Build. Three anonymous support groups also meet on the parish campus: Al-Anon on Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m. in Burgreen Library, Gamblers' Anonymous on Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in Burgreen Library, and a former Northside Young People's AA group that has since relocated.
Pastoral Care, Stephen Ministry, and Prayer Shawls
The pastoral ministry of St. Martin's rests first with the clergy, who are available for hospital visits, end-of-life care, prayer, and counsel. Eucharistic visitors are sent out each Sunday to bring communion to those who are homebound or in the hospital. The Stephen Ministry program trains and supports laypeople who commit to a two-year term of one-to-one confidential companionship with fellow parishioners going through crisis - hospitalization, grief, divorce, unemployment, retirement, new parenthood, spiritual struggle, or simply a season of loneliness. Stephen Ministers are always the same gender as their care receivers, and initial training runs about fifty hours.
The Pastoral Community of Care (PCOC) provides additional lay support. The Prayer Shawl Ministry, founded in 2008 by Deacon Edith Woodling, knits and crochets shawls fashioned with prayer, freely given to anyone in need; the clergy are glad to deliver them.
Weddings, Funerals, and the Columbarium
St. Martin's welcomes couples for the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. At least one party must be a baptized Christian, the marriage must conform to the laws of the state and the canons of the church, and two witnesses are required. If either party has been divorced, the Bishop of Atlanta's permission must first be obtained. Couples meet with a member of the clergy for three sessions of premarital counseling, with a downloadable Wedding Information Form, guidelines for music and fees, and a Bridal Suite Gallery available.
The parish conducts the traditional Episcopal Burial Office for funerals and memorial services, an Easter liturgy that bears witness to Christian hope in the midst of grief. Burial services may be held at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesdays, 11:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays, or 2:00 p.m. on Sundays. Clergy are available around the clock when a death occurs among parishioners and consult with families on the service and burial. Memorial gifts in lieu of flowers may be directed to the parish or another charity. The Chapel of the Resurrection columbarium and prayer garden on campus serve as the in-parish resting place for the ashes of St. Martin's members.
Music, Stewardship, and the 75th Campaign
Music is part of every Sunday worship at St. Martin's, with the full choir at the 11:00 a.m. service and at the monthly ONE St. Martin's. Flower dedications, the music fund, and an annual stewardship campaign named A Tapestry of Gifts: Weaving Together Time, Talent, and Treasure invite every member to share in the parish's life. The Endowment Fund, begun in 1971 by the third rector, the Rev. Martin Dewey Gable, has supported the Suthers Center, an HVAC replacement, the columbarium expansion, and the Bride's Room renovation, and has backed outreach partners including Emmaus House and IOH; its corpus is never spent, so every gift is designed to last forever.
The 75th Anniversary Campaign supports improvements to the church's HVAC, prayer garden, kitchen, Gable Hall, and café, carrying the parish that began in 1951 into the next chapter of its mission in the heart of Brookhaven.