GOD
God is the creator and ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God.
WHO WE ARE
ABOUT OUR CHURCH
WHO WE ARE
St. Andrew is a welcoming and loving body of believers. We are compassionate, committed, courageous, and proactive doers of God’s word. We are diverse, loving, evangelistic, service-oriented, giving, and mission-minded.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to Exalt Christ, Evangelize the lost, Equip the saints, and Edify the community through Kingdom Service.
SERVICE TIMES
School of Discipleship – Sunday at 8:30am
Worship Service – Sunday 10:00am
Youth Ministry – Monday 6:30pm
Prayer Meeting – Tuesday 7:00pm
Bible Study – Tuesday 7:30pm
CHURCH HISTORY
St Andrew Missionary Baptist church was organized on July 9th, 1975 under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Willkie D. Ferguson, Sr. The church was organized with 6 members. The church at his time had a few auxiliaries and steadily began to grow in membership. Pastor Ferguson chose to name the church St. Andrew because Andrew was the first disciple to bring others to Jesus Christ. The legacy of Pastor Willkie D. Ferguson Sr. was that he laid a strong Biblical foundation for Spiritual growth, church development, and strong family values.
In 1988 Rev. Willkie D. Ferguson, Sr. Retired from pastoral ministry and was succeeded by his grandson, Rev. James C. Ferguson. Under Pastor Ferguson’s leadership, St. Andrew continued to grow in its mission and membership. Pastor Ferguson introduced St. Andrew to expository preaching and mission work. Under his pastoral Leadership boards and auxiliaries became ministries, church dues were replaced with freewill giving, education ministries were developed, a youth department was organized, a church vision and mission concept was introduced, young families began to join and the emphasis on family values along with strong Biblical teaching/preaching continued.
In December 1995, the Lord called Pastor James C. Ferguson, Jr from his labor to his rest and reward. Rev. James C. Ferguson’s legacy was that he taught the membership to have a great love for the word of God, education and mission while adding to the church’s Biblical foundation to insure future growth.
On February 25th, 1996, Rev. Dr. Larry T. Walthour II became the third pastor in the history of St. Andrew. Dr. Walthour served as the St. Andrew’s Youth Minister and was an understudy of Rev. Willkie D. Ferguson, Sr. and contemporary of Rev. James C. Ferguson, Jr.
Under Dr. Walthour’s leadership, St. Andrew membership grew and developed spiritually, socially, and economically. Dr. Walthour continued St. Andrew’s overall commitment to mission, family and Christian Education while expanding its emphasis to include a church vision and mission statement, praise and worship, tithing, and teaching.
In December of 2015, Dr. Walthour saw fit to follow God’s call and move to another location and begin a new chapter in his life.
Dr. Walthour’s legacy was that he taught the membership to not just read and hear the word of God, but to obtain a deeper understanding by studying God’s word. He empowered the body by creating and presenting lively sermons and Word Study lessons. He shared his love for words, rhyme, and alterations. Most importantly, Dr. Walthour taught the body “If we want to do something for Christ in this world, we do that by following Christ’s model of servant leadership and ministry. We must pick up the towel”
After Dr. Walthour’s departure, the body formed a pastoral search ministry. After some time of praying, fasting, and searching the body elected Rev. Ricardo P. Moore on December 20th, 2016 as its pastor. We ask that you continue to pray with us and for us, as “We watch God blow our minds”.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all men by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to heaven’s glory and will return again to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son as God. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. As Christians we seek to live under his control daily and believe that the Spirit of God is working to make our character more like Christ’s.
THE CHURCH
We believe the church is the Body of Christ, the family of God made up of every Christian on earth. It is expressed through local congregations of Christians. It is a place where the Holy Spirit empowers Christians to use their gifts in reaching non-Christians with God’s salvation message, and in helping each other grow spiritually. The church is led by the Holy Spirit through the pastors and elders He has established.
MAN
Man is made in the image of God, to be like him in character. Although God designed man to have fellowship with him, man became alienated from God through disobedience. As a result, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and choose to sin against God.
SALVATION
Salvation is a gift from God to man. Man can never make up for his sin by self-improvement or good works – only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can man be saved from sin’s penalty. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith.
THE BIBLE
We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us, and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried.
BAPTISM
We believe the Scriptures teach that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, into the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost; to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect, in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life. While baptism is not required for salvation, it is a biblical command and demonstrates your love and obedience to Christ.
COMMUNION
Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is an ordinance given to all believers by Jesus Christ to remember his sacrifice for us and to symbolize the new covenant. The elements of bread and wine or juice are symbols of Christ’s broken body and shed blood. Communion is not a means of salvation. Rather, it is a testament of a believer’s faith in the atoning work of the cross.
THE FAMILY
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.