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Charities benefit as Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre celebrates anniversary

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<p>MOUNTAIN TOP &#8212; At 84, Archie Weyhenmeyer is almost as old as St. Martin-in-the-Fields &#8212; the Episcopal church where he snuffed candles as a young acolyte on Sundays and weeded nearby rows of vegetables the rest of the week.</p><p>His grandparents Eli and Margery Weyhenmeyer donated some of their farmland so the field-stone church could be built and today Weyhenmeyer and his wife, Harriet, are helping to plan a celebration for the church&#8217;s 90th anniversary.</p><p>The 90th anniversary of the church&#8217;s first service will take place on Sunday, junior warden Janeann Lokken said, and that day will be devoted to a 10 a.m. Easter worship service. The 90th anniversary of the church&#8217;s consecration is July 4, and that will be the day for a reunion-style party, Lokken said.</p><p>The picturesque church, located on Church Road near the Nuangola exit of Interstate 81, was built in 1927, well before the Interstate came along in the 1960s.</p><p>&#8220;Transportation then wasn&#8217;t what it is today,&#8221; Weyhenmeyer said, explaining that most, if not all, of the early worshippers lived nearby.</p><p>A yellowed newspaper clipping describes how the church&#8217;s founders &#8212; Mr. and Mrs. Archie Childs, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Emery, Mr. and Mrs. William Stivers and Mr. and Mrs. Eli Weyhenmeyer &#8212; wanted to construct a church because they were outgrowing their previous meeting place at the home of the Fred S. Pettit family.</p><p>A handwritten document from the 1920s names early benefactors, listing dime store magnate F.M. Kirby as giving $2,500, a &#8220;Miss Gordon&#8221; as giving $5 and a &#8220;Mrs. Burns&#8221; as giving $1.</p><p>One Sammie Decker, who contributed $5, was not a member of the church, Weyhenmeyer said, but a huckster who peddled goods to families in the area.</p><p>T. Somers Newman of Wilkes-Barre designed the building, which has a vaulted ceiling, room for about 80 people to sit comfortably, and some striking stained glass windows.</p><p>One window depicts the church&#8217;s namesake, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, a soldier who divided his own cloak to share it with a beggar. Church rector the Rev. Daniel Fitzsimmons said, according to legend, St. Martin later had a dream in which the beggar appeared to him as Jesus Christ, wearing the cloak. St. Martin became known as a patron saint of soldiers and of the poor.</p><p>In keeping with St. Martin&#8217;s compassionate spirit, Fitzsimmons said, &#8220;The Episcopal Church has always been welcoming. It&#8217;s a place you can be safe and be who you are.&#8221;</p><p>To symbolize that welcome, the Episcopal Church&#8217;s emblem and a rainbow are combined on a sign in front of the church, Fitzsimmons said.</p><p>Church members are getting ready for a meat loaf dinner April 29 and hold weekly book sales each Wednesday evening and Saturday afternoon. They&#8217;ve also held a kite-flying event for the past few years as community outreach. But paramount this week are the Holy Week observances, which include services at 7 p.m. on Maundy Thursday and 7 p.m. Good Friday followed by the Easter Sunday service at 10 a.m.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A visiting clergyman once commented that St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church was so small, &#8216;really one feels like picking it up and putting it in one&#8217;s pocket.&#8217; His comments were published decades ago in a periodical called The Bethlehem Churchman, and quoted in a local newspaper. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_stmartin1_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>A visiting clergyman once commented that St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church was so small, &#8216;really one feels like picking it up and putting it in one&#8217;s pocket.&#8217; His comments were published decades ago in a periodical called The Bethlehem Churchman, and quoted in a local newspaper. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams|for Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_stmartin2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">While Easter Sunday will be the 90th anniversary of the first church service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Rev. Dan Fitzsimmons said the Easter Sunday worship service will celebrate Jesus Christ&#8217;s resurrection rather than the anniversary. The anniversary party will be July 4. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_stmartin2_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>While Easter Sunday will be the 90th anniversary of the first church service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Rev. Dan Fitzsimmons said the Easter Sunday worship service will celebrate Jesus Christ&#8217;s resurrection rather than the anniversary. The anniversary party will be July 4. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams|for Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_stmartin3_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"> Harriet Weyhenneyer stands near a window that is decorated with symbols of the 12 apostles, from keys for St. Peter to scallop shells for traveling missionary St. James to a carpenter&#8217;s square that indicates St. Thomas&#8217; occupation. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_stmartin3_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2> Harriet Weyhenneyer stands near a window that is decorated with symbols of the 12 apostles, from keys for St. Peter to scallop shells for traveling missionary St. James to a carpenter&#8217;s square that indicates St. Thomas&#8217; occupation. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams|for Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_stmartin4_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The stained glass window behind the altar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church depicts the legend of the church namesake giving a cloak to a beggar. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_stmartin4_faa.jpg</photo3><caption3>The stained glass window behind the altar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church depicts the legend of the church namesake giving a cloak to a beggar. </caption3><photoCredit3>Fred Adams|for Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_stmartin6_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">St. Martin-in-the -Fields Eiscopal Church in Mountain Top has a church yard where some early members of the church are buried. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_stmartin6_faa.jpg</photo4><caption4>St. Martin-in-the -Fields Eiscopal Church in Mountain Top has a church yard where some early members of the church are buried. </caption4><photoCredit4>Fred Adams|for Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>St. Martinin-the-Fieldshas anniversary</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

St. Martin-in-the Fields Church in Mountain Top turns 90 Easter Sunday