The Reverend Christopher H. Martin has been the rector of St. Paul’s – that is, the head priest or pastor – since 2004. Christopher was educated at Yale University, where he completed both his B.A. and his Master of Divinity. He was ordained in 1996 and has served churches in Seattle, Hartford, and Los Angeles. He loves to lead ‘worship in the beauty of holiness,’ to teach the spirituality of Jesus and to be with people in the important moments of their lives.
He has authored two books – The Restoration Project, published in 2013, explores Saint Benedict’s twelve steps of humility, revealing how this ancient guide leads to wisdom, strength, and love. Christopher invites us to imagine how we are like Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, The Last Supper, which through years of restoration has had its beauty and clarity revealed as a masterpiece. The Restoration Project weaves prayer, poetry, and art with contemporary stories of brokenness, joy, and discovery to lead to a place spiritual renewal.
His second book, With Gladness, Answering God’s Call on Our Daily Lives (2021) which asks the question: how can we love and serve God with gladness and singleness of heart? His approach to answering this question invites a focus on daily prayer and weekly worship along with gentle practices—slight shifts in perspective and action that help us to live more fully into God’s call for our everyday lives. Christopher turns to scripture, theologians and poets, and experience from fellow faith pilgrims to develop this guide for modern-day disciples seeking to move through their ordinary days with gladness and singleness of heart.
During his leadership at St. Paul’s, Christopher has expanded and strengthen the church’s decades long ministry to the condemned on San Quentin’s Death Row, created a breakfast program at a school for at risk teens; nurtured Young Mom’s Marin a support group for single, home-insecure mothers, lead twice weekly Bible studies, conducted the church’s first LGBTQ+ weddings and baptized more than 50 children. He has been President of the Executive Council of the Diocese of California and has led over a dozen clergy and diocesan retreats across the country.
He is an avid student of philosophy and an enthusiastic reader and teacher of great works of literature.
He met his wife, Chloe, in 1986 when they were both in their first year of college. They married in 1992 and have two adult sons, Harper, and Simon. Christopher and Chloe live in San Anselmo.