Our ministry

St. Andrew's provides many opportunities for "inward" ministries, so that as a community we may seek and find God through one another, and for service, or "outward ministries," so that we may fulfill the teaching of Jesus to "do unto the least of these."

Here are lists of several ministries you may find of interest.

Inward Ministry | Outward Ministry

Inward Ministry

Acolytes, Readers, and Sub-Deacons
AIDS Committee
Altar Guild
Brotherhood of St. Andrew
Care Committee
Catechumenate (instructional classes about our Parish and the Episcopal Church)
Choir
Christian Education: Nursery, Children, and Adult
Daughters of the King
Episcopal Church Women (ECW)
Episcopal Young Community (EYC)
Finance Committee
Flower Guild
Hospitality Committee
Lay Eucharistic Ministers (LEM)
Long Range Planning Committee
Music Committee
Parish Office
Prayer Ministry
Sacristans
Stewardship Committee
Ushers
Vestry
Worship Committee

St. Joseph's Keepers:  St. Joseph's House is the building adjacent to the church where we hold our coffee hour and many other social activities.  A group of folks concerned about the state of St. Joseph's
House has gotten together and formed a group we're calling the St. Joseph's Keepers, although some insist on "Josephines".  We have been meeting to clean up the house and make plans for future renovations and decoration (usually at (9:30 a.m on the second Saturday of the month).   If you're interested, get in touch with Vance McCracken or call the church office.

Prayer Call Ministry
One of our important "inward" ministries is our custom of praying for six to eight parishioners each day so that over the course of a month each member of the church is especially remembered and held up to the Lord.

On the day of the month that a particular individual or family is prayed for, they receive a call just to let them know that they are in that day's cycle of prayer and to find out if they have any particular prayer requests for themselves or others.

To facilitate this, our directory is divided into 30 pages, each page corresponding to a day of the month.  There are six volunteers who call on Monday through Saturday. No calls are made on Sundays because the names are read aloud in church.

We would like to encourage all St. Andrew's members to form the custom of praying each day for their co-parishioners listed on that day's date. It is a wonderful practice to help bind us together in love and faith.

At present, these are the six volunteers and the day
each makes calls:
Monday-Mary Ellen Nicholas
Tuesday-Kathy Rose-Byington
Wednesday-Betty Conn
Thursday-Judith Ray Johnson
Friday-Ken Wade
Saturday-Grace Sanders

If you are interested in this ministry, please call Jean Flemming at the church. We often need substitutes or a person will occasionally ask to be replaced.

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Outward ministry

55th Place (second-hand store)
Alabama Arise (social justice ministry)

Alabama Arise is a coalition of 150 religious, community, and civic groups that work on poverty issues by promoting state policies to improve the lives of low-income people.  St. Andrew's is in good company with a number of faith groups, including the Alabama Episcopal Diocesan Department on the Church in the world and several local parishes, as well as members from every major denomination in the state.  St. Andrew's is an active participant in Arise, supporting their annual Lobby Day, hosting visits from Arise's community organizers, and writing our legislators on issues affecting low income persons.

Birmingham Episcopal Campus Ministries
Birmingham Institue for Religious Studies
Burial Society
Community Kitchens (meals for the poor)
Episcopal Place (retirement home)
Greater Birmingham Ministries (social outreach)
Interfaith Hospitality House (housing for homeless families)
Shepherd Center (for senior citizens)
Southside Ministries (social outreach)
St. Andrew's Foundation (housing for the mentally handicapped)
St. Andrew's Preschool
St. Martin's in the Pines (retirement home)

Integrity:  Since 1994, Integrity Alabama has held monthly meetings at Saint Andrew's-usually on the 4th Sunday of the Month, at 5:00 p.m. in St. Joseph's House. 

The local annual celebration of the feast of its patron saint, Aelred, Abbott of Rievaulx, began seven years ago at St. Andrew's. 

During this decade of joint ministry, many people from St. Andrew's have served in positions of leadership, including a current board member, Katie Richardson and the group's current treasurer David Gary.  

St. Andrew's clergy has been of constant support to the group and St. Andrew's Outreach committee recognized Integrity in 2003 and 2004.

Integrity Alabama has served as an outreach organization of worship and ministry providing a witness of the Episcopal Church in the gay and lesbian community and a witness of the gay and lesbian community in the Episcopal Church.  The group works to find or help establish supportive worship environments and spiritual nourishment.  Integrity is a leading advocacy organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Christians in Alabama.

The local chapter is affiliated with national Integrity, Inc., a non-profit organization founded 30 years ago in rural Georgia by Dr. Louie Crew, as a grassroots voice for the full inclusion of homosexuals in the Episcopal Church and equal access to those rights.

Key Contacts at St. Andrews:
Mary Vandagriff
David Gary

Other Contact Information:  
Brad LaMonte, Convener, Integrity Alabama
phone:
205-322-0540 (home)
205-529-0640 (cell)