Episcopal Church Links

General Information

Information about St. Martin's Episcopal Church: Visit our official website for all the details about our community, services, and events.

Information about Our Diocese: To learn more about our diocese, check out the Diocese of Missouri website.

Information about the Episcopal Church: For an overview of the Episcopal Church, its beliefs, and its history, visit the Episcopal Church's official website.

Spiritual Resources

Online Book of Common Prayer: For an online version of the Book of Common Prayer, you can go to the this website.

Online Morning or Evening Prayer: For daily prayers, visit Daily Office. Additional prayer resources are available here.

Worship and Music

Choral Evensong from the Washington National Cathedral: Experience the beauty of choral evensong through the Washington National Cathedral's website.

Choral Evensong from the Church of England: For more options from the UK, visit the Choral Evensong website.

News and Podcasts

News about the Episcopal Church: Stay updated with news from the Episcopal Church via the Episcopal News Service.

News about Religion in General: For broader religious news, visit Religion News Service.

Forward Day by Day Podcast: For daily reflections, check out the Forward Day by Day Podcast.

Books and Merchandise

Spiritual Writing and Books: Find enriching books and spiritual writings at Forward Movement.

Episcopal Merch and Swag: For Episcopal-themed merchandise, visit Episcopal Shoppe or check out the range of Episcopal gifts on Etsy.

Charitable Giving

Episcopal Charitable Giving: To contribute to Episcopal charitable endeavors, visit Episcopal Relief & Development.

Gifts for Good from Episcopal Relief and Development: Consider giving meaningful Gifts for Life through ERD.

Fun and Community

Funny Memes about the Episcopal Church: For a lighter take on Episcopal life, check out the Episcopal Church Memes on Facebook.

Easter Flowers

Make a gift toward spring flowers to decorate the church for Easter and honor or remember a loved one with a dedication which will be included in the Easter Bulletins.

To make a dedication:

·      Locate the Easter Flower display in the narthex.

·      Fill in the dedication coupon.

·      Put the coupon and your donation into the provided envelope – place it into the offering plate or mail to the church using the self-addressed envelope.

·      If you write a check, be sure to write Easter Flowers on the memo line.

·      On Easter Sunday, select a potted spring flower to take home with you. See an Altar Guild member for details.

Suggested donation: $30

Dedications must be received by

Palm Sunday April 13 to be included in the Easter bulletins.

Music Notes from Denise, March 29, 2025

This Sunday we will read Jesus’ parable about two brothers: the prodigal son and the faithful son and their father in Luke 15. When one son returned from his life of turmoil, the father told his stalwart brother, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”  Sometimes those of us who are here with the church resolutely and constantly can become angry and bitter when others who aren’t always here step up to claim their part in the kingdom. Thankfully, God provides us the ability to celebrate and rejoice whenever new life comes into our church.

Our Sequence hymn will be the lovely hymn My song is love unknown, written by Samuel Crossman, an Anglican priest in the 17 century. In his book, Listening to the Sacred Seasons, Jeff Held writes about the text, “It imitates George Herbert’s poem, The Sacrifice which explores the Passion from a personalized perspective of Christ…structured in 63 verses, each ending with Was ever grief like mine?” Crossman meant for this poem to be a love song—sung to Jesus who had pure love, even to the loveless so that they might “lovely be”. The tune was written by John Ireland who composed it in only fifteen minutes. The congregation will enjoy singing some of the stanzas to this heart-felt hymn. (Listening to the Sacred Seasons, copyright 2024 by Jeff Held; jeff-held.com)

We will have a guest soloist for our Offertory and Communion music, Kiera Anderson-Pittman. Kiera is a junior at Parkway Central High School who will be singing the songs that earned her a gold rating at MSSHA solo & ensemble festival and she qualifies for State Contest. She has had leading roles in many of Parkway’s theatrical productions and is a member of Standard Time, our vocal jazz ensemble that has performed at Webster University. Her offertory will be Jay Althouse’s arrangement of the Spiritual, Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. In his book, Were You There?, Luke Powery writes that the slave who might have sung this song had experienced the ups and downs of life, but also knew God. “This slave singer knows that our trouble will not terrorize us forever. This singer knows that hope will have the final word. This singer knows God will win and triumph over all of our trouble!” (Were You There? Lenten reflections on the Spirituals 2019 Luke A Powery, Westminster John Knox Press) Sometimes I’m up, sometimes I’m down. Oh yes, Lord. Sometimes I’m almost to the ground. Oh yes, Lord. If you get there before I do, Oh yes, Lord. Tell all my friends I’m comin’ too. Oh yes, Lord. Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows but Jesus. Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, Glory hallelujah! (1994 by Alfred Publishing Co.)

Our final hymn will be the classic, Amazing grace! How sweet the sound. The text was written by John Newton. According to Robert J Morgan in his book, Then Sings My Soul, Newton was raised by a devout mother who died early and he subsequently tried to live a good life while falling deeper and deeper into sin. “Pressed into service with the British Navy, he deserted, was captured, and flogged …More voyages, dangers, toils, and snares followed. It was a life unrivaled in fiction. Then, on the night of March 9, 1748, John, 23, was jolted awake by a brutal storm and descended too suddenly for the crew to foresee. The next day, in great peril, he cried to the Lord. He later said that the 10 of March was a day remembered as the date the Lord came from on high and delivered him out of deep waters.” (Then Sings My Soul 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories 2003 by Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers) If America had a national folk hymn, this would probably be it, and is a powerful assurance and declaration of the grace of God working in all our lives. When Newton was just eleven, he joined his father at sea and began a tumultuous life in the Navy, eventually becoming captain of a slave ship. In a period of four years, however, his life was drastically turned around: he nearly drowned, he married a very pious Mary Catlett, and he read through Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and joined forces with the great abolitionist, William Wilberforce. A number of years later, he was ordained for ministry, and soon after wrote this great text, declaring that we are saved only the grace of God. Newton wrote, “I can see no reason why the Lord singled me out for mercy…unless it was to show, by one astonishing instance, that with him 'nothing is impossible'” (Newton, The Life of John Newton). As we sing the very familiar words of this hymn, how powerful it is to think of ourselves as an “astonishing instance” of God’s grace and mercy.  (Hymnary.org)