Mission Statement

We, the family of St. Andrew’s, strive to provide a sanctuary for prayerful worship within a respectful and welcoming environment and to meet the spiritual needs of our parishioners and community, using Christian ideas and values. We also strive to promote Christian fellowship and to build a strong and vibrant parish which serves God, supports the spiritual growth of its members, and teaches the word of Jesus Christ through worship, outreach, personal example, and respect for the spiritual growth of those around us.

About

We, the family of St. Andrew’s, strive to provide a sanctuary for prayerful worship within a respectful and welcoming environment and to meet the spiritual needs of our parishioners and community, using Christian ideas and values.  We also strive to promote Christian fellowship and to build a strong and vibrant parish which serves God, supports the spiritual growth of its members, and teaches the word of Jesus Christ through worship, outreach, personal example, and respect for the spiritual growth of those around us.

We are both a Catholic and a Protestant Church with our roots in the Church of England. We own our own building. We hire our pastor. (also known as our priest, minister, or rector). Our church is run by an elected group of people called the Vestry. We welcome people from all faith backgrounds, and we baptize people of all ages. Everyone is invited to receive Communion (also known as Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper). This is God’s table and feast. Jesus invites you to come to the table and we welcome you to do so also. Our theology is based on the Hebrew and New Testament Bibles, Tradition, and Reason. We use both the Book of Common Prayer (based on Anglican Tradition) and assorted Hymnals during out worship. We accept disagreement on matters of doctrine, recognizing that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Even though our worship is very similar to the Roman Catholic service, the fundamental ways the church is administered is very different. In the Roman Catholic tradition, the parishes are administered from the top down, with the Pope as the head of the church, down through the diocese (cardinals and bishops) to the resident priest. We administer from the congregation. Even though we do have bishops and consider the Pope as the ultimate head of the church, the diocese has limited legal connection to the congregation and the Pope has none at all. Most of our revenue comes from our parishioners. It is through their pledges that the church can not only exist but do God’s work from the parish out to the world. In Episcopal faith tradition, an annual meeting is held at the start of each year where the congregation comes together to go over the life of the church with regard to missions and ministries, financial figures and the election of parishioners to serve the parish in different ways. The annual meeting is where people can see how the church is doing, ask questions and make decisions on the direction of the parish.  At the Annual Meeting, we combine three important elements into one service.  These are a breakfast put on by some of the men in the church, the meeting itself, and the church service with eucharist. You could say, “We serve food, serve information and serve God”.