This week and next All Saints By-the-Sea welcomes the Reverend Martin Smith. On June 22 and 29, the celebration of Holy Communion will be at 8 a.m. and Morning Prayer will follow at 10 a.m. A social hour with refreshments follows the 10 a.m. service. At 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 24 and Tuesday, July 1, Reverend Smith will lead a discussion group on the church porch.

Martin Smith is well known throughout the Episcopal Church as writer, spiritual director, retreat leader and teacher exploring contemporary spirituality. A priest since 1971, he most recently served as the senior associate rector at St. Columba’s Church in Washington, D.C., in the Diocese of Washington, while continuing to travel widely for his teaching ministry. He retired in July 2012, and continues to devote himself to writing, preaching and the leading of retreats and workshops.

He was born in the northwest of England in 1947 and received a bachelor’s degree from Oxford University in 1970. He trained as a theologian and prepared for the ordained ministry at Cuddesdon College, Oxford. After several years in the parish ministry, he joined the oldest religious order for men in the Anglican Communion, the Society of St. John the Evangelist, and served in the community in Oxford before transferring to the North American branch of the community in 1979. After completing three terms as superior of the community, he left the order in 2002. From 2002-2006 he was on the staff of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. He is the author of a number of books, including "Nativities and Passions: Words for Transformations" (1995) and "Love Set Free: Meditations on the Passion According to St. John" (2012).

The church is on Southport Island on All Saints Road about two miles on your left as you drive south on Route 238 (look for the Episcopal Church sign by the side of the road). Parking is available along Route 238, or if necessary, in the limited number of handicapped parking spaces off All Saints Road. A golf cart will ferry persons from the handicapped lot to the church steps. You may also come to church by private boat or by the tour boat Novelty, which leaves Boothbay Harbor from Pier 8 at 9 a.m. Novelty picks up passengers from the church dock at 11:40 a.m. for return to Boothbay. The very beautiful and simple wood chapel is open for quiet prayer and meditation during the week.