OUR LEADERSHIP

Every member of St. Andrew's Parish is a minister of the church "ordained" in the waters of Baptism and each of us is called on to minister to one another and to the world.

The Rev. Dr. Peter Strimer is our Rector and leads us in worship and education, and helps the staff to work as a collegial team.

The Rev. Terry Steig is Assisting Priest and the Director of the St. Andrew's Pastoral Counseling Center.

The Rev. Anne Novak, Deacon, is in charge of our outreach programs.

Ruby McLachlan is Ministry Coordinator, supporting our numerous volunteer ministries and welcoming newcomers to the parish.

Cherry Haisten is Director of Center for Christian Formation.

Rebecca Kirkpatrick is Director of Children & Youth Ministries.

Michael Cooley is Music Director, making the brand new custom built Bond Organ sing every Sunday. He also directs the adult choir and is becoming an accomplished composer of Church Music.

The Vestry, consisting of 12 members of the congregation elected for three-year terms, and serves as the governing board of the parish.  During this interim period, the Senior Warden serves as Rector of the Parish. The Vestry has more hands on responsiblities than when a Clergy Rector is in place.

Our Beliefs

As an Episcopal Church, we are:

• A COMMUNAL CHURCH: We believe that the Church is not a congregation of individuals, but that we are all one in the person of Jesus Christ and that together we proclaim the Good News of God's love for the entire world in his name. We also believe that this unity extends to the whole worldwide Church.
• A BIBLICAL CHURCH: We believe that the Bible is the Word of God reflecting the many centuries and writers in their experience of God. Episcopalians hold the Bible to be the most important Book of the Faith. However, Episcopalians are not Fundamentalists and tend to look at Sacred Scripture within its historical context, allegorically (as did the early Church) and as metaphor. We would say that the Bible is true without always being historically or scientifically accurate.
• A TRADITIONAL CHURCH We affirm the place of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds as statements of Faith handed down from the Early Church as well as the writings of the Early Church Fathers (and occasionally Mothers!) Our liturgical life comes to us from The Book of Common Prayer (1979), a descendant of the English Prayer Books and the Liturgies of the Early Church. Our Church is goverend by Bishops who are Successors to the Apostles and who guard the teachings of the Church as was the governance of the early church, and are the foundations of faith on which we are to build.
  
• A SACRAMENTAL CHURCH We believe that the love Jesus Christ is given to us through "outward and visible signs" or sacraments, especially Baptism and The Holy Eucharist (Communion, the Lord's Supper). We also celebrate the Sacraments of Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination, Anointing of the Sick, and Ordination. Our Sunday Eucharist is an affirmation of our unity in Christ, "One Bread, One Body," and that we are called to go into the world to be the Body of Christ in the name of Jesus.
• A PROPHETIC CHURCH We believe that we are called to faithfully proclaim God's gracious love for all people and to work for justice in the world especially the poor, the marginalized and the outcast.
  
• A THINKING CHURCH We believe that God gave each of us a brain to use rationally. We believe God reveals the Divine to us not only through the Bible and the Church but also through Science, Literature, and Beauty.
• A PERSONAL CHURCH: We believe that each person is valued by God, and that the spiritual journey of each of us contributes to the growing faith of our Christian family.