An old African proverb says, “those who build the community are built by it…”  Few tasks at Saint Andrew have been as time-consuming, challenging, or faith-forming as the task of designing and constructing a “sacred space” for our community of faith.  Beginning in the fall of 1994, a team of architects from Berkeley, California joined with Saint Andrew’s building committee and congregation in a journey to create a space that would reflect the character and values of this new and growing congregation. 

Designed to reflect Saint Andrew’s ongoing relationship with the mountain community of El Higueral in El Salvador, the sanctuary was dedicated in 1999.  Soaring trusses and a hearthroom built of straw bales are indicative of the progressive architecture and ecological approach to Saint Andrew’s construction.  A meandering path from the parking lot up a sloping hill to the building’s courtyard leads the visitor to transition from a secular to a spiritual frame of mind.

Soon after the sanctuary dedication, ground was broken on a ten-thousand square foot addition for education and administrative space.  Completed and dedicated in 2003, the new wing provides ample space for children’s and adult education classrooms, a much-needed kitchen and “Friends Hall” for gatherings, a library, a nursery, and office space for our growing staff.

Many hours of planning by our building committee members, much “sweat equity” from the congregation, several building campaigns, and the gracious gifts of the “friends of Saint Andrew” (totaling nearly half a million dollars) fortified the construction of our building.  As we continue to enjoy and discover the delights of our church home, our hope and prayer is that it will provide quiet spaces for reflection and renewal; places of beauty where we can be inspired; places of study and learning where we are challenged; and places for fellowship where we can laugh and celebrate like Jesus did, and break bread in Jesus’ name.