Meet St. Martin's, Charlotte

There is noise – A LOT of NOISE - around St. Martin’s, Charlotte, these days. Good Noise for Good News. Whether it’s a busy Sunday in the courtyard, banging in the bathrooms or preschoolers laughing outside, there is now noise, and it is good.

The silence of our usually active building throughout the pandemic was deafening. What we missed most about being together in-person: the sounds of our common life lived together. St. Martin’s is nestled in a ideal spot just a mile from center city Charlotte, surrounded by “hot real estate,” hospitals and homelessness. As cars rush by on Sunday mornings, our parishioners file out of the nave into our busy courtyard. The courtyard is our place to connect with each other and with what God is doing with us. Currently there is a sign-up for Room in the Inn jobs, a display for our Angel Tree for our partners in South Dakota and a “cloak” drive collection. This courtyard hosted popsicles every week following worship in the summer [pictured] and worship under tents in the fall of 2020.

The banging in the bathrooms is thanks to our generous members’ overwhelming response to our capital campaign this year. Who does a capital campaign during a pandemic? Our bathrooms and kitchen are both being completely renovated, and the HVAC is next! All of this will allow us to continue offering our building as a gift to the city and a growing list of ministry partners.

This year we have also seen the departure of beloved clergy and staff. There has been death, as well as a true bevy of births and more than a couple of weddings. We have welcomed new members in baptism, transfer and confirmation. Bishop Anne will be confirming the largest confirmation class we’ve had in seven years. The lockdown affected all of us as pastoral needs and financial crises grew.

Our congregation launched our own “little free pantry” that provides ready-to-eat items for our neighbors. We also deepened our partnership with Galilee Ministries of East Charlotte, providing meals twice a month and baked goods every week for their community lunches, as well as serving on the leadership board there. Through our long look at the lingering effects of how racism works in Charlotte, last year we discerned that affordable housing is a point of flexion in how we might begin to address the past discrimination that leads to present-day inequalities. Our commitment to the partnership with Galilee and to housing insecurity remained as our top mission priorities as we saw countless volunteers get involved through advocacy, service, and financial support.

We embrace the noise knowing that it is a sign of Emmanuel, of God with us here on 7th Street.