St. Martin in the Fields – 75th Anniversary Capital Campaign

All are welcome.

 

At St. Martin’s, all are welcome. Before communion each week, we hear, “all are welcome at God’s table - it’s God’s table, so of course, all are welcome.”

All are welcome in ‘God’s house.’ Of our strategic planning priorities:  outreach, formation for all ages, and tending to buildings and grounds, the last category is about ‘God’s house’ - a place for the tremendous growth and vitality we are experiencing and for important mission and ministry over the past many years.  

We will celebrate our 75th Anniversary throughout 2026. For the sake of St. Martin’s Church and all who will be welcome in the future, it is time to tend to the long-identified projects that the Capital Campaign is designed to support: enhancing the Prayer Garden, renovating the Kitchen and Gable Hall, replacing the Sanctuary's HVAC, and funding a Capital Reserve Account to ensure that St. Martin’s is a place where all are welcome for 75 years to come.

The Vestry believes this $2 million Capital Campaign can succeed with your commitment and payment over the course of these three years - 2024, 2025, 2026. The Vestry has timed the campaign and project completion to match the celebration of the church's 75th anniversary in 2026.

 

Cost

The total cost of all projects is estimated at $2 million.

Prayer Garden $400,000

Kitchen $500,000

Gable Hall $300,000

HVAC $400,000

Capital Reserve Account $400,000

Timeline

March 2024 - Gather estimates for work on capital projects

July 2024 – The quiet phase of the Capital Campaign begins

August 2024 – The Capital Campaign is public.  Commission facilities study; design, permitting, and construction bidding for the Kitchen/Gable & Prayer Garden; execute contract on HVAC

October 2024 – Plan to install the new HVAC in the Sanctuary

January 2025 – Sign construction contracts

February 2025 – April 2026 – Kitchen/Gable, Prayer Garden projects implemented

May 2026 – Bishop joins us to celebrate St. Martin’s 75th

December 2026 - Give thanks for generosity and faith shared in this Capital Campaign so that all are welcome for many years to come.

Prayer Garden

We plan to enhance our beloved prayer garden and make it a welcoming bridge between the church and the school.

A redesigned entrance with a custom archway will make the space more visible and an accessible parking space will be added. Improved paths will wind through the garden, leading to gathering areas for quiet reflection and worship.

  • New perennial garden featuring sustainable native plants

  • New memorial section for interment of ashes with adjacent water feature

  • New labyrinth at the center of the garden

Kitchen & Gable Hall

The kitchen and Gable Hall will be renovated and transformed into a welcoming gathering space where we can enjoy spending time in community as One St. Martins.

The revamped space also will allow us to extend hospitality to the larger community in new and vibrant ways.

  • Kitchen redesigned for more efficient space use, with all-new equipment and appliances

  • New coffee/beverage bar at the back of Gable Hall for informal socializing

  • Gable Hall refreshed from ceiling to floor to create a warm, friendly space suitable for both church events and community gatherings

Both the Kitchen and Gable Hall will remain places for mission, and the community will benefit from these enhanced spaces.

HVAC

Replacing the HVAC increases efficiency and reliability.

As you may have experienced, our current heating and air-conditioning system has struggled to heat and cool the sanctuary consistently and smoothly. With the upgrade to a new system, we will also install proper ducting to circulate temperature-controlled air, and thereby eliminate the noise of the blowers currently operational behind the lectern and pulpit and in the rear of the church. Proper air flow should make all who come to worship at St. Martin’s comfortable in any location within the church.

  • New system will be installed by MaxAir Mechanical and all obsolete component parts removed.

  • Ducting will be installed within the Sanctuary, framed and hidden by wood matching our ceiling.

  • For the first time, air flow will be properly distributed throughout the Sanctuary.

HVAC ducting will be on the interior of the A-frame. Architectural designs forthcoming.

Capital Reserve Account

Seeding a Capital Reserve Account for future capital projects will allow the church to address significant needs of our buildings and grounds without delay.

We have addressed deferred maintenance from within the operating budget in the last several years. And, further in the past, when we had identified a project as a priority, we sometimes delayed executing that capital improvement for lack of funds. This reserve account will enable us to care for our campus in a timely manner.

  • A facilities study taking place in summer of 2024 will give us a timeline for addressing capital needs and plan for expenditures over the course of the next fifteen years.

  • A capital reserve account will work in conjunction with the Endowment Fund’s support of capital projects at St. Martin’s, and with any operating budget allocation for planned upgrades.

  • The Capital Reserve Account will enable us to maintain our buildings and grounds.

75th Anniversary Capital Campaign Pledge Card

Click here to pledge online. Note that if you wish to give online, you must separately set up that gift and choose “75th Campaign” from the dropdown menu in Realm.

Alternatively, you may pick up or print a paper pledge card, or you can pledge via email to Business Administrator Leslie Rose at lrose@stmartins.org, who is available to assist you in any way with your pledge or gift.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • We haven’t had a capital campaign in awhile - this is the first church-specific capital campaign at St. Martin’s since the mid-1970s and it is time to support these long-anticipated projects.  We are two years from the celebration of our 75th anniversary, and this campaign is timed to completion for our anniversary celebrations.

  • We have learned from a number of other churches and consultants that we should be able to raise this $2 million without too much trouble. If we raise too much, the vestry will ensure that the money is reserved for the mission and ministry of the church, looking to the next 75 years of St. Martin’s impact on the community. If we raise too little, we have built in a buffer, posting not-to-exceed numbers in our costs, but anticipating some projects will land under budget. Also, we are a church with an endowment fund and some monies in an invested reserve account.  We are confident that we can complete the proposed projects with your support.

  • First, thank you for your pledge and for your support. We would like to receive the money in 2024, 2025, and/or 2026. Your early gifts will ensure that we have the cashflow for the projects. Some will make a one-time lump sum donation. Others will divide their pledge payments over two or three years. You can set up giving for the campaign in Realm with the dropdown selection “75th Campaign.” Please make sure you specify gifts to the 75th Anniversary Capital Campaign as “75th Campaign.”

  • Yes. Please continue to support our annual operating budget with your annual stewardship pledge. Early each fall, we request your annual stewardship pledge and, as costs are ever increasing, we ask that you consider a small increase in your annual stewardship pledge every year to support outreach, programs, personnel, and general operations and upkeep of the buildings and grounds. Your pledge to the capital campaign is an above-and-beyond gift for these specific one-time projects for the church.

  • We are glad you asked. Our leadership is passionate about this Capital Campaign and its component projects, and any one of them would be eager to talk with you. Susan and Ned Breunig are our Capital Campaign chairs. Martha Evans is leading the prayer garden enhancement project with the prayer garden team: Jennifer Petritz, Chris Elwell, Marcia Reese, and Susan Breunig. Annemarie Madden is leading the renovation of the kitchen and Gable Hall, with Dinah Howell, Jim Reese, Martha Evans, Facilities Manager Quentin Lonon, and Monica Mainwaring. Junior Warden Jim Reese is leading the HVAC replacement with Quentin Lonon and the Administrative Commission: Martha Evans, Monica Mainwaring, Grant Ford, Marion Hodges, Quentin Lonon, Tim Peek, Chris Elwell, Bob Hamilton, and Dinah Howell. The Endowment Fund is supportive of this campaign, and Chair Brad Ferrer is available to discuss along with Trustees Tim Kelly, Jed Dennard, Mitchell Haas, Cory Crotty, Jon Roy, Mark Adkins, Tim Peek, Raine Hyde, and Wayne Cartwright. The Vestry is embracing this Capital Campaign and its projects as its priority leading up to the 75th Anniversary – Senior Warden Leslie Uddin welcomes questions, along with vestry members Diana Parise, Amanda Giffin, Bill Petritz, Caroline Rose, Chris Elwell, Jim Reese, Lauren Cartwright, Scott Foster, Scott Madden, Nancy Smith, Man Martin, and Monica Mainwaring. Financial inquiries are best addressed by Treasurer Scott Madden or the Finance Commission: Jim Reese, Brad Ferrer, Jed Dennard, Vince Vitti, Chris Rouse, Dottie Palmer, Carol Roberts, Leslie Uddin, and Monica Mainwaring. Rector Monica Mainwaring has likely already invited you to be a part of all of this, and her staff stand at the ready to help you engage with these projects – Business Administrator Leslie Rose will be your go-to if you need any assistance with your pledge or gift to this Capital Campaign.

  • Right here on our church website, we will keep you informed of progress throughout this 75th Anniversary Capital Campaign.

Contributors

Thank you to those who have pledged in support of the 75th Anniversary Capital Campaign.