History of St. Andrew's

Hilton Village was laid out on land in Warwick County, known as the Darling Tract, as the Federal Government's first planned housing development. Four lots were set aside for churches. At Main Street and Warwick Boulevard, one ended up used by the Methodists and one by the Baptists. At Main Street and River Road, one was used by the Presbyterians and the fourth by the Episcopalians.

The first services for Episcopalians, in the newly created Hilton Village, was conducted on January 5, 1919 by the Rev. T. C. Page at the Hilton Village Recreation Hall. The first congregational meeting was conducted on January 31 and attended by 33 persons. It was at this meeting that St. Andrew's was established as a mission of St. Paul's. The name of the church derived from the International Brotherhood of St. Andrew, who assisted in the early efforts to form a Sunday School for children.

Ebenezar Thomas Massey was one of the founders and a member of the brotherhood. He was Senior Warden from 1919 until his death in 1951. His farm became Brandon Heights when Hilton Village expanded in the '20's.

The Rev. Henry G. Lane, rector of St. Andrew's parent church, St. Paul's, was the founding minister. He held many afternoon services by the James River, later in the Hilton Village Recreation Hall, then in the Hilton Village Auditorium when the Hall was torn down. He was instrumental in helping St. Andrew's receive one of the four Hilton Village lots reserved for churches.

St. Andrew's first frame church was built at the corner of Main St. and River Road. The church was constructed by J.W. Davis for a token fee of $50 even though the final cost came to about $10,000. It was consecrated on August 22, 1920 by Bishop Beverly D. Tucker, assisted by the Rev. Messrs Lane and Freese.

In January the Rev. Harvey A. Cox replaced the Rev. Freese in the pulpit and was appointed minister-in-charge on The Rev. Freese's death in November. This was a dual responsibility, as he was also the Rector of Grace Church in Newport News' East End. He continued in this capacity until November 1, 1928 when he moved to North Carolina.

St. Andrew's functioned without a minister-in-charge for five years. The Rev. J. Keith M. Lee, Rector of St. Paul's, kept services going without interruption during this period, with the invaluable aid of lay assistants from the congregation. Willard M. Entwisle was designated Lay Reader in Charge and later became Minister-in-Charge of St. Andrew's in 1935 after having graduated from the College of William and Mary and seminary.

St. Andrew's Celebrated its tenth anniversary. Willard Entwisle, then a student of William and Mary, led an overhaul and updating of St. Andrew's organization. Because of St. Andrew's increasing maturity, the Diocesan Council approved the petition of St. Andrew's and The Rev. Lee to recognize St. Andrews as an organized mission.

On Sunday, December 1 the Revised Book of Common Prayer, which became colloquially known as the '28 Prayer Book, came into use all over the country. This was the third revision of the American Book of Common Prayer and had been in the making for fifteen years. It replaced the 1892 edition which had been in use for nearly a century.

Nineteen Thirty-Three produced, at long last, a resident minister for St. Andrew's. On March 1, The Rev. F. A. Sapp came to the church from Petersburg as vicar, given St. Andrew's status as a recognized mission. He did not stay long as he was transferred to Pittsylvania County on December 6, 1934. St. Andrew's was without a resident Minister for two years during which time The Rev. Lee, with the assistance of Lay Readers from the congregation conducted services.

The Rev. Willard M. Entwisle was assigned dual pastorship of St. Andrew's and Grace Church on January 15. He remained vicar of St. Andrew's until 1941.  He had been a Lay Reader for St. Andrew's, while attending the College of William and Mary in the early 1930's.

On June 22, at a Vestry meeting, the first St. Andrew's Day School came into being. The school initially used the first floor of the Sunday School building weekdays.  The school was assessed a rental fee of $20 per month to offset fuel and electric costs.

The Rev. Willard M. Entwisle resigned, effective August 31, to accept a call to a parish in Hopewell, VA. This left St. Andrew's without a resident minister again. The Rev. Lee pitched in again, with the help of lay assistants, and kept services going at St. Andrew's for the two years it took to get a replacement for The Rev. Entwisle.

On September 11 Bishop William A. Brown sent The Rev. Paul M. Kratzig to become the Vicar of St. Andrew's. The Rev. Kratzig had been a member of St. Andrew's and had assisted The Rev. Entwisle when a student at the College of William and Mary. He served until 1953.

The building on the corner of Main Street and Ferguson Avenue was acquired as a Rectory for The Rev. Krazig and his family. The second floor of the building currently houses church offices and the first floor is used for a nursery.

Plans were drawn to enlarge all facilities with particular emphasis on increasing space for religious education and a library.  Warwick county, in which Hilton Village is located, had no library at that time.

The "Bulletin", now known as "St. Andrews Net", was begun. With the exception of the two summer months each year and 1949, when money for printing was not available, the bulletin has continued it's ministry to St. Andrew's continuously.

Transepts were added to the original church chancel. A large new organ was installed and a memorial stained glass window placed over the altar. The window was the only window of the first church to become part of the second church, built in 1958/59. The church was encumbered in the amount of $35,000 to pay for the renovation costs.

On May 28 Eugene Eager Woods Jr., who graduated from Virginia Theological School, was ordained a Deacon by Bishop Brown at St. Andrew's. The Rev. Woods was lifelong Hilton resident and had been brought up in St. Andrew's were he served as an Acolyte. This was St. Andrew's first ordination.

The St. Andrew's Day School was restarted as an informal kindergarten in September with Lucy Kratzig as the teacher. The formal Day School was established in September 1950 with Lucy Kratzig as director. By 1953 the School supported K-3. At present the school supports Pre-school through the fifth grade.

A new Parish House addition begun and was located behind the duplex house facing Main Street. The expansion was needed to house burgeoning church programs as well as support the expanding Day School enrollments. The new Parish Hall was dedicated by Bishop Gunn on December 10.

The Rev. Kratzig resigns to accept a call to Trinity Episcopal Church in Victoria, Texas. For fourteen months St. Andrew's "makes do", without a rector, under the inspired leadership of Senior Warden Judge Conway H. Sheild. During these months Holy Communion was celebrated by a number of area priests including, The Rev. Wood, who had been ordained at St. Andrew's just four years prior.

The Rev. W. Francis Burke was named second Rector of St. Andrews on May 2. He saw duty in World War II as a Chaplain to the 29th Divison and served at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Orange, VA from the end of the war until he came to St. Andrew's. He served until his death in 1974.

St. Andrew's sponsors its first mission church - St. Stephen's in Hidenwood. The first service of the new mission was conducted in the Deep Creek Civic League building on June 12. The Rev. Clarke become St. Stephen's first minister on August 31, 1956 and the mission achieved parish status on 1 September 1956. Ground breaking for St. Stephen's Church building occurred on 8 December 1957 and it was dedicated on June 14, 1964.

The last service in the old church building was celebrated on June 15. The cornerstone was laid for the present church on November 30. Included in the new construction was the replacement of the original duplex that had served as the original parish House. The new church cost $137,700 and the new Parish Hall $83,900.

St. Andrew's sponsors St. George's mission in Stoneybrook. The first service was conducted in the Stoneybrook Country Club on March 15. The Rev. King would conduct services, with the assistance of local Lay Readers until a full-time Vicar was found. He became St. George's first Vicar later in the year.

St. Andrew's Day School enlargement to kindergarten through seventh grade was completed. In the ensuing years grades six and seven were eliminated and the lower grades increased in enrollment.

December 27 The Rev. Burke dies. The shock to St. Andrew's was strongly felt by all. He had led St. Andrew's longer than anyone before him and had baptized, confirmed, and married a great many of the congregation. The Rev. Buchanan became Acting Rector and provided the healing and continuity so badly needed.

On January 6 the new 1979 Book of Common Prayer was used officially in a St. Andrew's Sunday service for the first time. As with all previous revisions, this edition was not immediately accepted with good grace by all. Over time, however, it became apparent to most that Rite I services closely approximated the '28 Prayer Book usage.

Summer saw replacement of two roof trusses that had been badly damaged by termites. The original church building had experienced much the same damage prior to it's replacement. St. Steven's volunteered the use of their church for funerals and weddings; which seemed to be unusually numerous.

The Diocesan "Feed My Sheep" 3-year Campaign began. In agreement with the Diocese, the dollars collected above the Diocesan target for St. Andrew's could be used to perform needed repairs and improvements to the Parish House. Chief of these were: the replacement of the HVAC, removal of all asbestos, and restructuring of the main hall for multi-use functions.

The Rev. Douglas G. Burgoyne resigned as Rector to address pressing family concerns in Richmond. The parish then entered into an Interim period requiring extensive self-study.

The Rev. Harry Woggan was chosen as Interim Rector and The Rev. Isabel Steilberg as Interim Assistant Rector. Both served until selection of the new Rector. Rev. Steilberg was St. Andrew's first woman priest.

St. Andrew's, joining with other Newport News congregations, sponsors it's first Habitat House. Terry Wolak acted as the coordinator for St. Andrew's effort.

November 9, The Rev. Howard W. Saunders III was named Assisting Priest, serving half-time. This renewed a relationship that went back to the early days of St. Andrews.

St. Andrew's joined with fifteen Episcopal congregations from the Peninsula to build a Habitat House for Humanity in Newport News. Ground was broken on April 18 and St. Andrew's parishioners made contributions of their time, talent, and money. The building was completed on October 19.

On May 1 a capital campaign was initiated to fund major renovations needed to the church. The work was done to make all buildings more handicap accessible and more efficient to use. Approximately $1.3M was raised by the campaign and over $1.5M were spent. The difference was carried as debt.

In the Summer the renovations commenced. 301 Fegusson completely rebuilt and connected to the Parish Hall. The floors in the church were redone, the organ underwent a major rebuild, an elevator was added, all basement rooms used by the Day School were redone, 301 Ferguson was completely rebuilt and a connecting arcade was constructed to connect it to the Parish Hall. Most of the work was complete by the beginning of September.

On September 16 Vernon and Francis Wilson become our first overseas missionaries in cooperation with the Episcopal Relief and Development agency of the National Church. They will be working with the Diocese of Belize, the local government, and the school system to establish a vocational training program to teach jewelry design, manufacturing, and repair.

December 30. The Rev. Howard W. Saunders III, our Assisting Priest, died. Howard had grown up, been ordained, and served as Associate Rector and Assisting Priest in and for St. Andrew's. He was much beloved by all.

The Episcopal Youth Community (EYC) made two missionary trips this year. The first one was to Mississippi, June 14-22 to assist in repairing the damage caused by hurricane Katrina. The second was to the David School, June 25-30 to help conduct their Vacation Bible School.

As a result of a long-range planning survey, radical changes were made to the Sunday service schedule on September 10. The schedule includes English services at 8:00 am and 10:30 am, a Spanish service at 1:00 pm, and a youth-led service at 5:30 on Sundays. This weekly Sunday evening service replaced the monthly "Saturday Night Alive" service.

The Reverend Sam Colley-Toothacher submitted his resignation, effective 1 May, to a accept a call to be rector of The Church of the Epiphany in Danville Va.

- The Rector accepted the letter of resignation of Kathleen Aiello as Director of Christian Formation, effective May 21.

On June 10 The Reverend Rhonda Wheeler accepted our call to become Assistant Rector for Christian Education. She grew up in the Southern Baptist Church was ordained a minister in 1991. She came to the Episcopal Church in 2000, serving as the Director of Christian Formation at the R. E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church in Lexington, VA for four years. Rhonda has spent the last three years of discernment, which included Candidacy for Holy Orders, a year of Anglican Studies at Virginia Theological Seminary and Ordination to the Transitional Diaconate on May 26. She was ordained to the Priesthood on December 6, 2007

The Reverend Rob Marston and his wife Maria were on sabbatical October 31 through November 11. They retraced St. Paul's second and third missionary journeys in Turkey and Greece.

On December 1 the St. Andrew's EYC gathered at the Hampton National Cemetery to lay wreaths on the graves of those interred there.

On December 6 The Reverend Rhonda Wheeler was ordained to the Sacred Order of Priest by The Rt. Reverend E. Neff Powell, Bishop of Southwestern Virginia.

On June 30th the St. Andrew's EYC left for their Mission Trip to Pittsburgh. They participated in "The Pittsburgh Project" which builds and renovates homes, much like Habitat for Humanity and runs Day Camps for neighborhood children, K-12, in Pittsburgh's North Side.

During the last two weeks of July two Mission Teams from St. Andrew's worked at Holy Cross Anglican School in San Pedro, Belize, Central America. Each morning the teams led Vacation Bible School for children. In the afternoon, they worked on the school's renovations and additions. The Holy Cross Anglican School was begun by St. Andrew's parishioners, Vernon and Francis Wilson, who continue to serve as missionaries in Belize.

During July, volunteers from St. Andrews contributed many hours of work to refurbish St. Paul's Parish Hall in downtown Newport News. All lights were replaced with CFLs, all walls painted and the floor was stripped and waxed. St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the mother church of all Episcopal churches in Newport News, conducts a unique and vital ministry of feeding and sheltering the needy of downtown Newport News.

On December 13 2008 the St. Andrew's Episcopal Youth Community (EYC) gathered at the Hampton National Cemetery to lay wreaths on the graves of those interred there.

On April 26th The Rev. Dick ended his more public ministry at St. Andrew's as an Assistant Rector. Since November 1, 1999, anyone who has been unable to attend church services has had the opportunity to have communion taken to them by him. This has been and continues to be the primary focus of the Rev. Richard H. Holley's ministry: making monthly visitations to shut-ins. He will continue in this function as Assisting Priest as time permits.

On June 28th The Rev. Betty Hudson joined the staff as part-time Assistant Rector. For the last five months she has served as Transitional Rector at Trinity Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, VA. She has been a member of St. Andrew's for the last year and has filled for our priests on a number of occasions.

From June 29 through July 3 Sixteen St Andrew's youth and chaperones spent a week in Pittsburgh, PA, joining Christian youth groups from across the nation to participate in the Pittsburgh Project's Youth Work Camp. This is a worship and prayer-filled program which assigns youth groups to low income senior citizens in need of home repair. Our group was divided between two homes, where St Andrews missionaries handily rebuilt a stone wall and a stone walkway, painted and performed other much-needed home repair and yard work.

From July 22 through 25 Fifteen St Andrew's youth and chaperones spent three full days serving the needy in Virginia Beach. Each morning, they worked at the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center, where they completely reorganized a very disarrayed food pantry. J-COC provides food, lodging and transitional services for the homeless. Each afternoon, St Andrew's youth went to "Friendship Village", where they taught faith-based lessons, played games and worked with the resident children to improve their neighborhood by collecting trash, painting the playground and planting shrubs and flowers. One afternoon, the St Andrew's team led the children aboard a boat tour of the Norfolk Naval Port.

On November 7 Our beloved sexton, Mr. Vernon Coppedge retired. He devoted eighteen years of exemplary service to St. Andrew's Church and School. His presence will be sorely missed.

On December 12 the St. Andrew's Episcopal Youth Community (EYC) gathered at the Hampton Veteran's Cemetery for the fourth year to lay wreaths on the graves of those interred there. Click [here] to read the Daily Press article.

On December 18 members of St. Andrew's met in the parish hall and prepared turkeys for Christmas dinner at PORT and St. Paul's. Provided LINK families with packages of turkey. Made and distributed 636 bag lunches. We also sent about 50 additional sandwiches to Youth Challenge.

March 31: The Department of Energy recognized St Andrews as an Energy Star Facility for 2009. An Energy Star building has to be in the top 25% of all like facilities in the US in terms of energy use efficiency. We are the 7th house of worship, and the first Episcopal church, to be granted Energy Star status.

June 25-27: St Andrew's 1st Hometown Mission involved 10 youth and 3 adults who spent most the weekend volunteering with the Living Interfaith Network (LINK) program for the homeless and needy people in our community. On Friday night, the group worked at the LINK office in Hilton Village -- cleaning the carpet, painting the storage room, and organizing inventory. They spent Friday night at theWarwick YMCA, ate Saturday breakfast at Angelo's and reported to duty at the LINK supply warehouse (behind Warwick Village shopping center), where they re-shelved and organized inventory and moved supplies. When the work was complete, the group was treated to a fun afternoon swim at the outdoor recreation center of a local Hometown institution, Fort Monroe.

July 5-9: St Andrew's 3rd annual Pittsburgh Mission Trip involved 13 youth and 2 adults who made the long but very worthwhile drive to the Pittsburgh Project, a "work camp" program that combines hard work with uplifting worship, fellowship and fun in a way that makes this mission program a very popular destination for St Andrew's youth. Each day started with worship and gospel rock music, then the St Andrew's team reported to two different homesites to help low-income senior citizens repair and improve their homes and yards. Everyone returned to the Project each night for team discussions, group activities and fun time. Many on this year's St Andrew's team were first-time missionaries, while some were returning to Pittsburgh for a third year! Neither mission trip this year would have been possible except for the efforts of all who participated in the Dinner Theater and Spring Auction fundraisers.

August 1: Harper Lewis joined the staff as the Youth Director. She joins us from St. John's in Hampton were she served as Parish Administrator and thence as Director of Youth Ministry and Christian Formation. She has a bachelor's in Therapeutic Recreation from Longwood University and is a recent graduate of EFM. Currently, she serves the national church as a Conference Administrator for CREDO conferences (clergy and lay wellness) twice a year in the spring and fall. On the diocesan level, she chairs CE-Net, a network for the Christian Educators of our diocese.

December 11: The National Wreath Laying Day was sponsored by St. Andrew's Youth Community at the Hampton National Cemetery. This year over 6000 wreaths were placed by the headstones. This was a very meaningful and moving experience to take part in as we honored those who gave the last full measure serving their country.

April 1: Celebration of Brad Norris' 25 years as the Music Minister of St. Andrews. During his tenure he has built and maintained strong adult and children's choirs. He has staged a number of events combining the efforts of Saint Andrew's adult choir with those of Trinity Lutheran, Saint Augustine, and Saint Johns. He is a published composer and a superb organist and pianist whose talents have been showcased as far afield as Trinity Episcopal Church in New York City. Click [here] to see pictures of the event.

June 5: St. Andrew's held a going-away party for Bill & Margaret Moore who had been Head of St. Andrew's Episcopal School since 2002. She left to accept the position as Interim Head of School at St. Martin's-in-the Field Day School in Severna Park, Maryland. Pictures of the celebration are available [here].

June 21-27: Fourteen individuals from the Diocese of Southern Virginia, three of whom were from St. Andrew's, traveled to the 2011 Episcopal Youth Event on the campus of Bethel University in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Additional information is available [here].

July 1: Valerie I. Migliore began duties as Head of School, St. Andrews Episcopal School. Her acceptance statement and biographical information is available [here]

July 4-8: A group of 21 missionaries went to Pittsburgh to help local residents who are in need of home repairs. We had three teams go out and work with three residents. During our five days in Pittsburgh, we had time for reflection, prayer, worship, discussion, and challenges - as we didn’t always have everything that we needed to complete our projects. This project helps the missionaries to problem solve and be creative in a Christian community. We brought these gifts back and they can be used right here at home..

July 29: The EYC worked at the Judea Christian Center where we first learned that the Judea Center is the only homeless shelter in Virginia Beach. The director met us and shared that they house 50 residents at a time for 6 months; so the residents can get back on their feet and save everything they earn. Official statistics put Virginia Beach homeless population at 500 residents but she feels that more realistic numbers are 5,000 homeless. We were tasked with helping to paint, reorganize, and make small repairs to help keep their facilities up to code. This was a day of teamwork, sharing memories and laughs as we completed a hot day of work..

December 10: The National Wreath Laying Day was sponsored by St. Andrew's Youth Community at the Hampton National Cemetery. This year over 6500 wreaths were placed by the headstones.

December 16: Each year, about a week before Christmas, members of St. Andrew's meet in the parish hall and prepare turkeys bag lunches for Christmas dinners at PORT and St. Paul's for needy area families. This year 600 bag lunches were made.