St. Andrew’s Community Involvement includes Free Food and Music

by Kathy Kinnin

Albany, NY – Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church is preparing for Holy Week next week. Starting on Palm Sunday and ending on Easter, the church will be active with services and activities. Its members will come from their homes in and outside the neighborhood for this important week in the church’s calendar. Saint Andrew’s will join the congregation of St. Vincent’s Roman Catholic Church to bless both churches’ palms and pray together on Palm Sunday. This old tradition was revived under the current Rector. Holy Week services go from a casual children’s Easter Vigil to the ancient worship service of Tenebrae in which the lights are slowly extinguished in the church as the Good Friday sections of the Gospel are read. The congregation leaves in darkness after the death of Jesus. Easter morning services are always festive with trumpets and flowers and a free breakfast for one and all between the two morning services.

For the parishioners of a still vibrant Saint Andrew’s Church, it’s hard to believe that the corner of Madison and Main avenues was once the end of the line for the city’s trolley cars. When the church was originally built all of the parishioners’ houses could be seen sprinkled right around the church, according to Mara Elliott, St. Andrew’ s director of communications. Today members come from much further away because they like the message there. Even though St. Andrew’s is a neighborhood church, more than two-thirds of the members come from outside the neighborhood.

Elliott recites the history of Saint Andrew’s as if she has lived it all. Of course she hasn’t but she does have her own history there. She has been a member for 15 years and worked at events too numerous to count. She was Senior Warden and even got engaged there. The church is highly involved in the community and many of its members volunteer at the events.

Lisa Walker can be found at The Shop at St. Andrew’s. It is the large thrift store in the basement of the church.  She said the Talbots outfit that she is wearing came from The Shop, which started 27 years ago with items left over after a flea market. The proceeds from the thrift store go back into community organizations such as the Damien Center, FOCUS Food Pantry and the Capital City Rescue Mission.

“We strive to be a community church,” Walker said. She has been a member of the church for 40 years. As with many of the members, Walker does not live in the Pine Hills neighborhood.

“The zip codes of our members stretch across the river to our credit and our blessing,” she said. Walker knew that she belonged at St. Andrew’s when she heard at one of her first services there was a service against Vietnam. She said that Rev. Ralph Carmichael was a “prophet for peace” during his sermons.

It was back in 1890 that Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Albany was concerned that not all of its parishioners could get to their location on Lancaster where the Empire State Plaza now stands. They began holding services in temporary locations in the Pine Hills neighborhood then decided to build a chapel, eventually known as St. Andrew’s Chapel of St. Paul’s. They looked for a place to build another church where people could once again walk to services. St Paul’s took its time looking for a location. The current location at the corner of Madison and Main avenues, less than two miles from the location on Lancaster was thought to be too far out but the decision to build here was made. A small chapel was built in 1897 and it wasn’t long before this new church decided to break away from St. Paul’s.  Membership grew and in 1918, planning began for a larger facility. At the height of the Depression a larger church was built. St. Andrew’s was and still is made up mostly of middle class working families. The church thrived during the Depression with its welcoming spirit and community involvement. They enlisted many community members who couldn’t find work to help build the church.

When St. Andrew’s broke away from St. Paul’s the pew tax was abolished. Elliott said the tax was a pew rental. Members literally paid for their seat. At St. Andrew’s the masses are sung, according to Elliott, “Our masses are not full of smells and bells.” This Episcopal Church is very liberal. It prides itself on inclusion and welcoming all people no matter how they interpret religion.  “Even atheists attend St. Andrews,” Elliott said.

” I found St Andrews after a search for a church in the Episcopal tradition that was open minded and progressive, yet traditional in its worship. St Andrews, for me, fits that mold. I remain at St Andrew’s not only for its beautiful building and Episcopal liturgy but because of the fact that no matter who you are or where you may be on your journey in faith, you are welcomed to be a part of the life of the parish,” Richard Angelo said.

Martha Iannacone first came to the church 31 years ago as a young mother. When her baby was crying during a service, she picked up the infant and started to head out the door so she did not disturb anyone. A man asked her where she was going, when she explained that she didn’t want to disrupt the service, he said, “No one is turned away from God’s house.” At that instant she knew that she had found a home.

“This is where I find God. We have a wonderful socially conscious church,” said Iannacone.

Elliott said, “This is not a quiet church” as she pointed out the carpet and permanent play area for the children near the front of the church. She remembers many times during the liturgy when a baby would crawl off the carpet, the Reverend would pick up the baby and continue the service.

Another way the church serves its neighbors is that St. Andrew’s provides a free community dinner

Children at St. Andrews (Mara Elliott)

once a month. Jeff Haugaard is in charge of the kitchen for these dinners. Normally he is busy preparing the dinner all day but in February the community dinner happened to fall on Shrove Tuesday, which is the day before Ash Wednesday. St. Andrew’s still follows many traditions. English tradition is that on Shrove Tuesday pancakes are eaten to use up eggs, milk and sugar before Lent. Haugaard said that he “found the church either by the grace of God or pure accident.”

Elliot added, “There is no such thing as coincidence.”  Implying that it was the grace of God that lead Haugaard to St. Andrew’s. Haugaard said that he has always felt welcome at St. Andrew’s and he knew that he had found the right place when he moved to Albany from Ithaca because the Reverend asked him if he would like to go out for lunch.  The next Love Thy Neighbor dinner is April 15. The theme is April Showers.

Many organizations use the facilities at St. Andrew’s the only requirement is that the group does not discriminate. Three or four adult education classes are held every week along with Boy Scout and Brownies troops. The Boy Scout Troop is Troop 2 – the second troop in the nation. In fact the labryinth built into the lawn at St. Andrew’s was an Eagle Scout project. So many events are scheduled at the church that St. Andrew’s has a hard time fitting in its own programs. A glance at their online calendar shows as few as three events in one day to as many as eight. (http://www.standrewsalbany.org/whatsNew.html)

There is certainly a sense of community within the church and it spills out in to the Pine Hills Community. Lorrie Graham has been a member for about five years. “I like this church and the people. I found a community that is involved with the people around them.”  She brought her dogs for the blessing of the animals and she is involved in many other activities that the church puts on. “We eat a lot here. We’ve had pie Sunday, coffee hour, lemonade on the lawn.” It is a great way to get to know the growing numbers of members.

Elliot said: “This is the world the way I want it to be.”
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