A stained-glass window at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Philadelphia honors the memory of the Rev. Elinor Robinson Greene II.
Deacon Greene, known as Nellie, was born and raised in Chestnut Hill. She was baptized at St. Martin’s and grew up there, participating in the church school and the choir. A car accident during her college years left her severely disabled. She died on Aug. 27, 2016.
The window depicts a smiling Deacon Greene in her vestments and seated in her wheelchair with her voice box on her lap. Below the circles containing her parents’ initials, the scroll reads, “Be responsible to each other, the earth, and all sentient beings.”
The window was dedicated on June 10. Placed above the Willow Grove entrance to the church, the window is at the same entrance as the ramp that St. Martin’s installed four years ago. “She also agitated us to build that ramp out there,” said the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel, rector. “Nellie was one of the first people up that ramp.”
Window design, rendering, production, and installation were by Willet Hauser Architectural Glass and was funded by gifts from the extended Greene family.
St. Martin’s also supported a short biography, The Rev. Elinor Robinson Greene II: Through the Narrow Door, that was presented to family members and friends. A PDF of the biography is available from St. Martin’s.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
