The Rev. Martin Smith

The Rev. Martin Smith is well known throughout the Episcopal Church as writer, spiritual director, retreat leader, and teacher exploring contemporary spirituality. A priest of the diocese of Washington, DC, he has served as the Senior Associate Rector at St Columba’s church in Washington, D.C. 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 has recently completed a ten-month appointment as weekly celebrant and preacher for the parish of All Souls, Washington, serving them through the difficult pandemic period.

He was born in the northwest of England in 1947 and was trained as a theologian at Oxford University, receiving his BA in 1968 and MA in 1970. After preparing for the priesthood at Cuddesdon College, Oxford, he was ordained in the diocese of St Albans, where he served in two parishes before joining the Society of St John the Evangelist, the oldest religious order for men in the Anglican Communion. He served in the community in Oxford until he transferred to the North American branch of the Society in 1979. After completing three terms as Superior, he left the Society 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 widely read books exploring contemporary spirituality, including Reconciliation, A Season for the Spirit, the Word is Very Near You, Love Set Free, Compass and Stars, and Go in Peace: the Art of Hearing Confessions (with Julian Gatta).

As Rev. Smith returns once again to the beloved community of All Saints by-the-Sea, his sense of homecoming to Maine and the wonderful Boothbay region grows stronger. It was his particular delight and privilege to serve as chaplain at the ordination of his dear friend Bishop Thomas Brown in the Cathedral, and he has a keen interest in supporting the bishop’s leadership and in the life and mission of the diocese of Maine.