St. Martin’s Episcopal Church

The First 30 Years

In the fall of 1968, a group of interested clergy and members of St. Paul’s Bound Brook, and St. John’s, Somerville, began a series of meetings to consider the possibility of establishing an Episcopal mission in the Martinsville area. It quickly became apparent that there was strong support for such an undertaking.

On February 2, 1969, the first service was held with a celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the Martinsville Community Center. The initial positive response led to a decision to continue holding regular weekly services for a trial period to see if the interest would be sustained. The people of this mission-without-a-name did not know it then, but that first service in February would be followed by a service every single Sunday for the next 30 years.

The early going was not easy. Services alternated between the Eucharist celebrated by visiting priests and Morning Prayer led by lay readers within the congregation. Meeting places included the Community Center, the Crim School, and a windowless basement room in the Martinsville branch of the Somerset Trust Bank.

The original group grew rapidly in numbers and commitment. In November 1969, the new congregation was officially recognized by the Diocese as St. Martin’s Chapel, a parochial chapel of St. John’s, Somerville, under the guidance of the Rev. David Stowe. A part-time Vicar, the Rev. Arthur Gans, served the mission from August 1970, until the following June.

A vicarage (the present rectory) was purchased in late 1971 and was promptly occupied in February 1972, by the first full-time Vicar of St. Martin’s, the Rev. Carroll Hall, and his family. In June 1973, the Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church in Martinsville offered St. Martin’s the use of their chapel for Sunday worship, a wonderful ecumenical gesture. This arrangement, which existed for more than nine years, contributed greatly to the stability and continued growth of the mission.

It had been decided that the ideal location for a future church building would be somewhere along Washington Valley Road, preferably to the west of Martinsville where the greatest future growth was anticipated. Finding a suitable property that satisfied Bridgewater’s five-acre zoning requirement for a church proved to be much more difficult than expected. After a long search that finally ended in 1977, the necessary five acres were acquired as the result of a generous gift of two acres by Mr. and Mrs. Clark Waage combined with the purchase of two adjacent properties by St. Martin’s. Included was a small house, later demolished, which was temporarily rented and then afterwards, used as a weekday chapel.

Fr. Hall retired in July 1978, and the Rev. Ronald Conner was called to St. Martin’s in August. He was instrumental in establishing the Anglo-Catholic style of worship that exists at St. Martin’s today. He also pressed hard for the church construction that began in late 1981 after a successful building fund drive.

Fr. Conner was succeeded by the Rev. Bruce Montgomery, who came with his family to St. Martin’s in January 1982. He has exerted a strong influence in many areas, with particular emphasis on spiritual growth and parish development. It was he who had the honor of holding the first service in the newly completed church building on November 11, 1982. St. Martin’s was incorporated as a legal entity within the state of New Jersey on June 26, 1983, and on November 19 was accorded full parish status at the Diocesan convention.

The completion of the church building created a feeling of permanence that attracted a large influx of new members, many of whom were young parents with school-age children. As a result, the church school rapidly outgrew the limited space that was available. A small and inadequate Rector’s office was also recognized as a serious deficiency. Thus it became apparent that the addition of a parish house was urgently needed.

Once again, a capital fund drive was successfully carried out, a design satisfying all of the identified needs was approved, and the construction of the parish house addition was undertaken. The new facility was completed in late summer of 1987, providing adequate church school space, a large conference room, a chapel, and a spacious office for the Rector and his staff.

The parish house was designed for and immediately occupied by the Mulberry Bush Day Care Center on the first floor, operating under a lease agreement with the church. This arrangement provides a substantial amount of income applied to the church budget and also reflects St. Martin’s philosophy of serving the surrounding community in appropriate ways. The undercroft is used for many purposes including AA and NA meetings, Girl Scout activities, and as an election-polling place.

In recent history, a number of positive steps have contributed to the further growth and development of St. Martin’s. A discernment process begun in 1988 helped the parish to see more clearly its identity and the challenges that lay ahead, as well as where it was being called by God. The creation of a Mission Statement in 1988 has provided focus and direction for the expansion of mission in eight key ministry areas: Worship, Christian Education, Evangelism, Stewardship, Fellowship, Pastoral Care, Outreach, and Lay Ministry. The hiring of a professional choir director in 1986 has enriched the music of Sunday worship. A part-time church secretary, along with considerable volunteer help, provides much-needed administrative support for the Rector.

There have also been several physical additions and improvements. A new Rodgers organ was purchased and installed to replace its ailing predecessor. Both the church and chapel have been beautified by the addition of several stained glass windows donated as memorial gifts. The area around the church and parish hall has been completely landscaped, and a special area adjacent to the church has been designed as a Memorial Garden for the interment of cremation ashes.

In 1989, the Vestry decided to evaluate the feasibility of a church expansion, mainly to increase seating capacity but also to provide a larger narthex, improve traffic flow, and add a room for choir robing. This action was triggered by the offer of a very substantial gift by the Apgar family to build a bell tower in memory of Jack Apgar, who had recently died.

An architect was hired to prepare a design and cost estimate for combining a tower with the building expansion. Unfortunately, the cost of doing both together proved to be more than could reasonably be handled at the time, in addition to meeting existing operating expenses and mortgage obligations. Therefore, the construction of a separate bell tower was undertaken based on a revised design that would allow it to be fully incorporated into an expansion later if the need and support became evident. The tower was completed in the spring or 1995 and the dedication ceremony was held in May.

Since then, there have been a number of noteworthy developments. A new program entitled Journey to Adulthood was inaugurated with the objective of offering teenagers a community experience where they could grow in faith and make meaningful friendships within the church as they mature into young adults. Another popular program called Journey provides interested adults with the opportunity to learn more about the Episcopal Church and deepen their faith and ministry in Christian community. Also, a youth choir has been established with it’s own choir director as another means of involving more children in the liturgy.

On the pastoral side, a major parish accomplishment was providing Fr. Montgomery with a three-month sabbatical in mid-1997, a relatively rare occurrence in the Episcopal Church these days. A great deal of planning and effort went into preparing for this event, and it was considered a success by all concerned. More recently, in November 1998, a newly ordained Deacon, Margaret Forsythe, was added to the church staff to assist in the liturgy and offer servant leadership in the outreach, pastoral care, and evangelism ministries of the church. Another addition has been the creation of a group of Lay Eucharistic Ministers to take communion to shut-ins after the Sunday services. Along with this, there has been a special effort to increase the emphasis on pastoral care activities carried out by the laity.

And finally, perhaps most important of all for the future of St. Martin’s, a major expansion project was completed in September of 2001. This new worship area provides much needed "pew space" for our expanding congregation. Besides the expanded Narthex, the Undercroft has been added to and modified.

Thus, based on all that has been accomplished over the last three years plus having the latest expansion fully implemented, St. Martin’s is in a strong position to meet, with God’s help, the challenges of the 21^st century.

St. Martin’s Episcopal Church celebrated the first 30 years of its existence in February 1999. This is how it all began.