St. Martin's celebrating 50th anniversary

Episcopal church holding labyrinth workshops

Hard to believe, but people have been worshiping at St. Martin's Episcopal Church for half a century.

The church, located at 416 E. Nelson Road, will celebrate its 50th anniversary Saturday, with two labyrinth workshops at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. and a church service at 12:30 p.m.

"After the service is over, we'll just have a party," said St. Martin's pastor, the Rev. Holladay Sanderson.

The labyrinth workshops are prayer exercises, Sanderson said.

"It's a walking prayer where you go in one path, getting rid of things that maybe trouble you on the way into the center," she said.

"It's not anything dreamed up nowadays; it's been going on for a thousand years," Sanderson said of the spiritual exercise, noting that a labyrinth appears on the floor of Chartres in France.

A 30-foot by 30-foot canvas labyrinth will be set up for the workshops in St. Martin's Fellowship Hall.

"Everyone gets a different experience out of it," said Jay Mather, St. Martin's senior warden. "It's just a really nice time to reflect on where you've been, where you are and where you're going. We're very pleased to be able to bring that here."

Participants can spend as long or as little in the labyrinth and center, he said.

The church was first formed in 1954, according to various histories written by members of St. Martin's. On Jan. 7, 17 women met to discuss the organization of an Episcopalian church. A week later, 33 people met to continue discussion and listen to advice from the clergy.

Two lots for the church grounds were offered as a gift by Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Lingg at a subsequent organizational meeting. Six connecting lots were purchased from the Linggs for $6,000.

The first service was held only three weeks after the idea was presented, led by a licensed lay reader from Ephrata. An archdeacon would come from Spokane once a month to hold Holy Communion service.

According to the histories, the church was accepted into the Episcopal Missionary District of Spokane as a mission on April 27, 1954.

Mather has been a member of St. Martin's since his family lived in Moses Lake growing up; he estimated he's been a member 17 years. He remembers when the Fellowship Hall was parking lot, and people would attend fellowship in the church basement, he said.

"When the church was built, the park and the rectory was all basically part of the church, so we've been real fortunate to have this block," he said. "Having a park is nice for our own church family, but it's been really nice for the kids over in the apartment complexes … We've felt real blessed that we could provide that for the community as well."

Like any other church, Mather said, the population of St. Martin's has risen and fallen through the years; he said that things seem to be back on an incline.

"We're a liturgical-based church, and we're looking at the ways that we can stay true to our roots but also make it maybe seem more welcoming to the families that aren't familiar with a liturgical-based church service," he said.

Part of the celebration includes inviting back members of St. Martin's in the founding days.

"We sent out invitations to those we know," Sanderson said. "So many of them have died. There were so many people who came with the base, and then they left."

Sanderson has been pastor at St. Martin's since July 2001, she said.

She said that the church takes after the saint it's named after, St. Martin of Tours, who gave half of his coat away to a cold beggar, and then turned his life around and gave his life to God.

"Spiritual outreach — I think that's something that characterizes who this parish is," Sanderson said. "The sense of hospitality is something that impresses me about this parish. There's a sense of welcome; everybody's welcome."