Detail of the church ceiling - Phil Ashley 2007

American donors

St Martin's has always had close ties with the US. It became an architectural blueprint for churches in the United States, with many churches on the East Coast echoing its style. Perhaps the best known is St Paul's Chapel, now in downtown Manhattan, which was designed in 1764 by Thomas McBean, a student of Gibbs. The influence of Gibbs' 1728 Book of Architecture can be seen in the First Baptist Meetinghouse (1774-1775) in Providence, Rhode Island, designed by merchant and self-trained architect Joseph Brown. There are thousands of other examples.

Quite independently from the architecture, however, there is another echo of the church in the US: some 20-plus churches are named after the London St Martin's. And in the 1950s, stone salvaged from bomb damage was taken across the Atlantic to be built into two new St Martins-in-the-Fields, in Maryland and South Carolina. These links continue to strengthen.

St Martin's is extremely popular with visitors from the US, as concert-goers, worshippers and tourists. American clergy regularly preach here and the Bishop of New York led the Ground-breaking Ceremony in February 2006, which marked the start of building for the Renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields.

We invite our American Donors to contribute to the ongoing work of St Martin's through The Foundation for St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, a 501(c)(3) corporation. By making a gift to The Foundation you can help secure the future of St Martin’s. Donations to The Foundation for St Martin-in-the-Fields, London are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please send them to:

The Foundation for St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
c/o Chapel & York Ltd
1000 N West Street
Suite 1200
Wilmington, DE 19801, USA.

For more information about the Foundation for St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, please contact the Foundation's fundraising counsel, Tim Runion, at 212-679-1418 or tim@timothyrunion.com