A Red-Door Welcome on Howard Street
On the corner of Howard and Carlisle, in Spokane's Emerson Garfield neighborhood, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church has been gathering people around the altar for nearly a century. The parish was formed in June 1927, when the congregations of St. Agnes and St. Matthew's combined into one church on this north-side lot. Members still come from the surrounding blocks, but on any given Sunday the pews also fill with people from across the Spokane region, from the north side to Cheney, from Browne's Addition to the South Hill.
St. Andrew's is a small, intimate parish known for two things in particular. First, an expansive welcome: there are no outcasts here, and the full participation of women and LGBTQ+ members in every part of the church's life is non-negotiable. Second, an unhurried commitment to ancient Episcopal worship, with incense-free but well-vested liturgy, the Book of Common Prayer, the lectionary, and an organ that has supported congregational singing for generations. Around that core, a busy set of outreach programs has grown: a free food pantry, a community garden, a book-swap library, a meal program for the families of incarcerated people, and an annual neighborhood barbecue that spills onto the lawn every summer.
Sunday Morning Worship: Ancient Rituals, Modern Welcome
Worship at St. Andrew's happens every Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. The service is a Eucharist with music, and it follows the same shape most Episcopal congregations around the world follow on a given Sunday, because the parish reads from the lectionary rather than picking and choosing its own passages. That is a deliberate choice: hearing scripture comprehensively guards against selective readings and biblical interpretations.
The order of the service is the kind that newcomers sometimes find unfamiliar. There are no assigned seats; any pew that feels comfortable is the right one. The organ prelude signals that the service is about to begin. A bell is rung, and the Gospel book and cross are carried up the aisle as everyone stands for the processional hymn. The priest leads several prayers, the readings are read aloud (a passage from the Old Testament, a psalm, an epistle, and a Gospel), and the congregation says the Nicene Creed together, the ancient confession of faith first adopted in the year 325. A sermon follows, lasting around ten to fifteen minutes. The Prayers of the People are led by lay participants, and the congregation reads a prayer of confession together before sharing the Peace of the Lord with one another.
The offertory comes next. An offering plate is circulated, and an offertory hymn is sung while the priest and lay ministers prepare the holy meal. Giving is a personal choice and is never a requirement to participate; offerings can also be mailed to the church, dropped off in the office, or made online. Then comes the heart of the service, the Eucharist itself. The presider announces, "Wherever you are on your journey of faith, you are welcome at this table." The parish believes the table does not belong to it; it belongs to God, and participation is open regardless of age or denomination. Bread is offered, then wine from either the common cup or an individual serving cup. Anyone who prefers a blessing may come forward and cross their arms, and anyone who prefers to remain in the pew is welcome to do that as well.
Weekday Prayer Life
The rhythm at St. Andrew's is not only a Sunday rhythm. The community gathers Monday through Friday at 8:30 a.m. for Morning Prayer and again at 8:30 p.m. for Evening Prayer. These weekday offices use resources from around the wider church and shift with the seasons. A separate Virtual Morning Prayer is held on Zoom weekday mornings at 9:00 a.m., and anyone is welcome to join in. The parish is intentional about keeping this daily prayer life alive: it is preparation for the work the church does once Sunday is over.
Thursday evenings at 6:00 p.m. bring a newer offering called St. Andrew's Sings!, a half-hour gathering led by Organist and Director of Music Darin Jones. The group practices Sunday hymns, learns about sacred music, and works on improving the congregation's singing. Children are explicitly included when they come. The weekly hour has quickly become one of the small, faithful habits of the parish.
Faith in Action: The Stands With Courage Garden
The newest visible expression of St. Andrew's outward-facing life is a community garden on the church's southwest lawn. The garden began in 2024, when a team of members started growing vegetables in open boxes available to anyone in the neighborhood. A central test garden is managed by a parish team; its produce is donated to the nonprofit Growing Neighbors, which sells the food at affordable prices at markets like the Garland Summer Market, and is also used for community meals in partnership with Growing Neighbors. After Sunday-morning harvest, worshippers are invited to take some home.
The garden has a name that says a great deal about the parish. In the First Nations Version of the Bible, the disciple Andrew, the church's namesake, is called Stands With Courage, for being one of the first people to follow Christ and his radical way of love. The garden is meant to be that kind of place: somewhere people, relationships, and community are nurtured.
The Food Pantry, the Mini Library, and Sharing What We Have
On the church's frontage stands a small wooden structure, a free food pantry installed in 2018 with the help of Caritas Outreach Ministries. The words on the outside read "take what you need, give what you can!" Members and neighbors stock the pantry with soup, rice, and other non-perishables two to three times a week, and anyone in need is welcome to what is there. In 2021, a member named Phil built a "mini library" next to it, a small free book exchange that complements the food pantry with the same spirit of mutual care.
Sharing food and meals has long been a defining habit of the parish. In 2021, St. Andrew's hosted a 2nd Harvest Mobile Food Bank in the parking lot, and for many years the parish co-sponsored a free food and activities program for children called Stone Soup Cafe, which was also housed at West Central Abbey and served thousands of meals to people in central Spokane. The work is ongoing. Members also check on one another, lead Bible study and book groups, host game nights, share a weekly newsletter, and tend the food pantry together.
Kairos Outside: Standing with Families of the Incarcerated
St. Andrew's provides volunteers and free event space for Kairos Outside, a ministry that supports the family members of people who are incarcerated. Kairos is based on the conviction that when someone is in prison, the experience ripples out to spouses, parents, children, and other relatives. The ministry exists to bring love, support, and kindness to those family members who suffer while their loved one is away. The parish's commitment to this work is quiet and long-standing; it is part of the church's wider sense of itself as a place that walks with the suffering, not only in word but in deed.
Holy Week, Easter, and the Christmas Eve Candlelight
The liturgical year is observed in full at St. Andrew's. The season begins with Shrove Tuesday, when the parish hosts a Pancake Supper, Silent Auction, Wine Tasting, and Dessert Auction, a fellowship event with a suggested donation at the door whose proceeds support the church's mission and outreach. The day after, Ash Wednesday brings a noon service with the imposition of ashes, marking the start of Lent.
Holy Week is observed with Palm Sunday at 9:30 a.m., Maundy Thursday with the Washing of Feet and the stripping of the altar, Good Friday with the Stations of the Cross, and Holy Saturday, often with a quiet open sanctuary and an Easter Hymn Practice. Easter Sunday itself is the largest service of the year, with a 9:30 a.m. Eucharist, a potluck brunch, and an Easter egg hunt for the children. The service is livestreamed on Facebook for those who cannot attend in person.
At the end of the year, the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service gathers the parish around the story of the Nativity. The service includes scripture readings, a sermon, the Eucharist, and classical Christmas hymns set to organ music. It concludes with "Silent Night" sung by candlelight, and afterward, St. Nicholas makes a special appearance for the children.
The Building: Where the Congregation Gathers
The Nave, the Organ, and the Pews
The church sits five minutes north of Downtown Spokane and Gonzaga University and four blocks east of the North Monroe business district. The most visible marker of the building is the pair of bright red front doors. The interior of the nave has the character of an active, lived-in parish: flowers, candles, colored vestments, stained glass, and a long-running organ that supports most of the congregational singing. The Hymnal in each pew contains more than 700 hymns, including "Amazing Grace" (#671), "Be Thou My Vision" (#488), and "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (#599). On most Sundays the priest or a licensed lay leader preaches, and the bulletin, picked up in the narthex from a greeter, walks visitors through the entire service, including when to sit, stand, and read.
Children, Nursery, and Family Life
Children are explicitly welcomed at St. Andrew's. A family play area near the back of the sanctuary gives young children room to stretch, and a nursery just down the hall offers toys, books, and a changing table. The church is often described, both by the parish itself and by visitors, as loving, inviting, and inclusive. The coffee hour after the Sunday service is a long-standing habit: about 80 percent of worshippers typically stay, gathering in the Guild Room for warm beverages, home-baked goods (gluten-free options included), and conversation. During harvest season, congregants sometimes share vegetables from their own gardens. Visitors are invited to sign the guest book in the main entryway so a member can follow up.
Accessibility
Free parking is available in the lot behind the church to the northeast, with additional free street parking on Howard and Carlisle available around the clock. The rear entrance is wheelchair accessible, with a ramp leading from the back parking lot into the sanctuary. The parish lists its physical accessibility as a basic commitment: anyone who wants to be present at the table, including those using mobility aids, can be.
Joining the Church: Baptism, Confirmation, Reception
St. Andrew's has no membership requirement for taking part in its life of worship and service; everyone is welcome to participate in the Eucharist. For those who want a formal connection, the Episcopal Church offers three paths.
Holy Baptism is the church's full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ. The bond God establishes in baptism is, in the words of the Book of Common Prayer, indissoluble. At St. Andrew's, Easter and the Bishop's visit (every one to two years) are the most common baptismal occasions, but baptisms can also take place during regular Sunday services. Both adults and infants are baptized; when infants are baptized, godparents make vows for the child, and the congregation promises to support the new Christian in faith and love.
Confirmation is the sacramental rite in which a person who was baptized as a child makes a mature commitment to Christ and receives strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop. Before confirmation, candidates typically study and converse with a member of the Bishop's Committee.
Reception is the path for those who were baptized in another Christian fellowship and now wish to be formally recognized as Episcopalians. In the liturgy of reception, candidates make a public affirmation of faith in the presence of a bishop, who says, "We recognize you as a member of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and we receive you into the fellowship of this Communion." Being baptized again is not necessary.
The Wider Church: Diocese of Spokane and the Anglican Communion
St. Andrew's is one of about 38 congregations in the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, which covers eastern Washington and northern Idaho and serves roughly 3,500 Episcopalians. The ninth and first female bishop of the diocese is the Rt. Rev. Gretchen Rehberg, a native of Pullman, Washington, a former organic chemistry professor, and a former volunteer EMT and firefighter. The diocesan cathedral, the seat of the bishop, is St. John's Cathedral in Spokane, where the parish joins the wider diocese each fall for Convention Worship.
The parish is also part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the third largest Christian communion in the world after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox branches, present in more than 165 countries. As Episcopalians, the parish walks the Via Media, the historic middle way between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, seeking comprehensive truth in the balance between extreme positions and guided by what Anglicans call Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. The current Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Communion, is Sarah Mullally, a former nurse.
Clergy, Wardens, and Music Leadership
Effective July 1, 2026, the parish is delighted to welcome the Rev. Jeremy Armstrong as its priest. Fr. Jeremy presides at Holy Eucharist two to three times monthly, always on the first and third Sundays, and spends a half-day at the parish each week engaged in community ministry. Before his ordination at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, he served as a transitional deacon at St. Andrew's and was a longtime parishioner at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Spokane Valley. He also served a career in the United States Navy before his call to the priesthood. On Sundays when Fr. Jeremy is leading worship at St. Paul's in Cheney, a supply priest generally presides and preaches, and occasionally a licensed lay leader preaches.
The Bishop's Committee, the parish's elected lay leadership body, includes Henry Salzano as Bishop's Warden, Vicki Spring-Brown as Junior Warden, Brenda Ervin as Treasurer, Amanda Miller as Clerk, and Michelle Taylor and Matthew Haslan as members. Darin Jones serves as Organist and Director of Music, leading the parish's singing and the Thursday evening St. Andrew's Sings! gatherings.
First-Time Visit: What to Wear, Where to Park, What to Expect
For visitors, the parish keeps the practical details simple. Come as you are. Some members dress up, while others are at home in casual attire; what matters to the parish is who you are, not how you look. The building is generally open Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to noon, and the office can be reached at (509) 325-5252 or office@standrewsspokane.org. A virtual newsletter goes out weekly; signing the guest book on Sunday or sending a note is the easiest way to be added.
The Sunday service begins at 9:30 a.m. and is livestreamed on Facebook for those unable to attend in person. Free parking is in the lot behind the church; the rear entrance is wheelchair accessible. The coffee hour in the Guild Room is one of the most reliable places to meet people and to feel the texture of the parish. Newcomers and visitors are especially invited to stay for fellowship. Anyone who wants a member to follow up is welcome to sign the guest book or to ask an usher.
For those who want to be part of the church's work in the wider neighborhood, the doors are similarly open. The food pantry is stocked by members and neighbors two or three times a week. Kairos Outside draws on parish volunteers and event space. The Stands With Courage Garden is a place to put hands in the soil. The Bishop's Committee and the parish office are the first stops for anyone with a new ministry idea; the parish is always exploring new avenues for activism, outreach, and social justice. St. Andrew's has been a part of north Spokane for nearly a century, and the work of being a community of belonging, in the parish's own phrase, continues.