OUR HISTORY: CELEBRATING 100 YEARSFounded in 1911 to serve the newly developed Ghent neighborhood in Norfolk, St. Andrew's began its life in a small wooden chapel. It stood on the same property as the present church. The first rector was the Rev. Myron Marshall who conducted his first service on December 3, 1911. By the end of 1912 there were more than 100 families as members.
The
current sanctuary was built in 1921. It and was designed by the noted architect John Kevan Peebles, a parishioner of St. Andrew's. During the
Great Depression of the 1930s, St. Andrew’s briefly merged with two
other Ghent-area Episcopal parishes, Christ’s Church and St. Luke’s
Church. The merger dissolved in 1940, and St. Andrew’s was
reestablished as an independent parish, while Christ’s and St. Luke’s
remained together.
In 1948, members expanded the 1921 structure with a two-story brick parish house that contains
the present-day auditorium with stage, classrooms, and church offices.
In 1959, a narthex was added to the sanctuary entrance on Graydon
Avenue, and in 1968, the church constructed White Hall, a social hall
named for St. Andrew's third rector, the Rev. Beverly Tucker White.
Most recently, in 2003, members commissioned 18 new Stained glass
windows in the nave. Together, they depict scenes from the corporal
acts of Matthew 25, a call to service that inspires our ministry in the
world.Over the years, St. Andrew's has been blessed with remarkable stability. Of the six rectors called by the church since its founding, three served more than 20 years. The longest-serving rector, the Rev. Charles Austin Joy, retired in 2007 after 25 years of gracious leadership. Our current rector, the Rev. John Rohrs, began his journey with us in the fall of 2009. Our parish is now poised for a new era of growth and service as we approach our 100th year in 2011.