History

The history of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church from 1860-Present:

  • Pre-1860: The few Episcopalians in Montevallo hold regular services in the Masonic Hall
  • 1860s: Led by the Rev. James F. Smith, Rector of St. Peter’s Parish at Talladega, St. Andrew’s is formally organized; and an English-style church building is erected on Valley Street.
  • 1873: The Valley Street church building is destroyed by a cyclone and replaced by a “Gothic-type” structure. Only three Episcopalian families are recorded living in Montevallo.
  • 1920: St. Andrew’s gives up its status as an independent Parish and becomes an Organized Mission, controlled by the Bishop and Diocesan Council. On occasion, services are conducted by Mr. Lee J. Clayton of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Montgomery. Mr. Clayton leaves the capital at 7:30 am on a train that arrives in Calera at “9 something.” There he is met by a member of the Parish, who returns him to Calera to catch the evening train home to Montgomery
  • 1922: The number of communicants residing in Montevallo is seventeen, five of whom are dependent minors.
  • 1923: The Treasurer’s Annual Report records 19 resident communicants, 7 teachers, and 23 students.
  • 1939: In April, the second church building was totally destroyed by a storm. “It looks as if a giant had picked it up, crushed it, thrown it to the ground, and then ground it under his heel, a complete loss.” – Bishop Charles C. J. Carpenter
  • After 1939: Church members meet regularly in the Concert Room of Calkins Hall, the music building on the campus of what then was Alabama College for Women.
  • 1940’s: St. Andrew’s is under the charge of the Rev. Charles H. Douglass, who undertakes the task of writing to all churches over the country in order to get the information to start parish records lost in the 1939 storm.
  • 1945: Bishop Carpenter accumulates $10,105 and the congregation collects $785 for the building of a new church building; the necessary remaining funds are accumulated over the next few years. For the fee of $25 a month, the Rev. Conrad Myrick comes to Montevallo twice a month on Sunday afternoons.
  • 1950’s: The present “neo-Gothic” brick structure is completed and consecrated by Bishop Carpenter. ” For quite a number of years the Woman’s Auxiliary of the Diocese contributed money toward the rebuilding of the Church at Montevallo. With the help of the Bishop’s Youth Fund, the Church and Student Center is now a reality.” – Bishop Carpenter
  • 1957: The Rev. Josiah W. Ware, Jr., serves as part-time Vicar, replacing the Rev. Robert Y. Marlow, who had been serving here at least as early as 1951. 24 communicants reported.
  • 1958: A new mechanical-action organ built by the Dirk Flentrop Orgelbouw of Zaandam, The Netherlands, is purchased for $4,290. It leaves Rotterdam on April 17 and arrives at the Port of Mobile on April 28 in four cases weighing 2,264 pounds. The director of the St. Andrew’s Singers, John Fesperman, plans the Inaugural Concert for the organ. One of the concert performers listed is student Polly Holliday, who later becomes Alabama College’s most famous New York-stage and Hollywood-film-and-television actress/alumna. (Fesperman later becomes the Head Curator of Musical Instruments at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
  • 1960: The house and property next door to the present Church is purchased for $13,000, secured by a loan from the Church of The Advent
  • 1966: The Rev. Charles Kettler Horn begins serving as part-time Vicar.
  • 1968: The Rev. Mr. Furman Stough is Diocesan Missioner. Dr. Benjamin Middaugh asks permission to form a choir and to pay 3 soloists $5 per Sunday. Dr. Hendrik van Tuyll, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, begins preaching on Sundays when Rev. Horn is not scheduled to be in Montevallo.
  • 1969: Annual Convention in January authorizes women to serve on Vestries. On December 14, Vivian Irene Roe is elected to the Vestry of St. Andrew’s, becoming (as far as can be determined) the first woman in the Diocese of Alabama to be elected.
  • 1970: Dr. Katherine Vickery donates a generous sum to make it possible to install new heating and air conditioning units for the nave.
  • 1971: After more than 100 years in Montevallo, in June, St. Andrew’s welcomes its first resident full-time Vicar, the Rev. Jack Keith Bush.
  • 1972: The roof of the building is replaced; and, Miss Katherine Farrah makes a gift of carpeting for the entire church and office. The Parish honors Martha Allen and Virginia Barnes by hanging a retrospective exhibition of their art works.
  • 1973: Perpetual reservation of the Holy Sacrament is instituted, by specific authorization of the Ordinary, Bishop Stough. St. Andrew’s becomes the second Parish in the Diocese to maintain the Sacrament on a permanent basis.
  • 1974: The final set of red vestments and altar paraments, as well as the violet Funeral Pall, are donated by Katherine Farrah.
  • 1975: The Diocese changes the status of St. Andrew’s from Organized Mission, under Vicar and Trustees, to that of a Supported Parish, with a Rector and Vestry.
  • 1982 – 1988: In November, St. Andrew’s welcomes its second full-time resident priest, the Rev. Joseph Lee Knott, and his wife and daughters.
  • 1989 – 1993: The Rev. Gates Shaw served as part-time rector.
  • 1994 -1996: The Rev. Margaret Shepard served as full-time rector.
  • 1998 – 1999: The Rev. Thomas White served as a supply priest.
  • 1998 – 1999: The Rev. Grady Barbour served as a supply priest.
  • 1999 – 2009: The Rev. James F. Tuohy, D. Min., served as part-time rector and campus ministry chaplain.
  • 2004 – 2011: The Rev. Deacon Steve R. Shanks served as deacon to help with prayer and outreach ministries of the parish.

*2007: The parish celebrates the completion of a major building project that provided new facilities in a 3,000 square-foot addition that includes an enlarged parish hall, improved kitchen, expanded restrooms, a nursery, Sunday school classrooms and offices. We invite you to come see our new space and join with us in prayer and fellowship!

*2009 – 2012: The Rev. John W. Wesley, Jr. serves as part-time rector and campus ministry chaplain.

*2010 – The parish celebrates the completion of the new six-bedroom Canterbury House, built with funds from the Diocese of Alabama ACTS2 Capital Campaign.

  • Oct. 16, 2010 – The parish celebrates its 150th Anniversary. The Right Reverend Henry N. Parsley, Jr. officiates the blessing of Canterbury House and the 150th Celebration Eucharist.
  • 2011 – 2016: The Rev. Deacon Judy Quick ordained deacon and assigned to St. Andrews.
  • 2016 – 2017: The Rev. Tyler Clayton Richards Ordained Tranistional Deacon and called to serve at St. Andrew’s.Ordained as a Priest in December 2016.
  • 2019 – Jan 2022: The Rev. Stephen Deqweck served as Priest-in-charge
  • 2022 – 2024: The Rev. Judy Lee served as Deacon-in-Charge.
  • In January of 2024, the Rev. Rebecca DeBow began serving as Priest in Charge.