Faith In Action
At St. Andrew’s, we strive to make our neighborhood, city, and world more kind, loving, and just. This work has always been at the very core of who we are. We believe that reaching out to the world in loving service and kindness is not about making us feel good, but rather is an essential moral duty and at the heart of our calling and responsibility as Christians. Our job, as scripture teaches, is to be “ministers of reconciliation.” That’s what we try to practice every day, in ways big and small. Below are some recent examples of what we - as a community - have been up to around Spokane!
Our Christian Values
Our late Administrator Tracey discusses Stone Soup Cafe on KXLY (2022)
Sharing Abundance From the Stands With Courage Garden
In 2024, a dedicated team of St. Andrew’s members began a community garden on our grounds. Open boxes available to anyone are located on our southwest lawn. Church members and neighbors tend to these boxes, growing vegetables for their own use. In our central test garden - managed by our garden team - produce is grown and donated to the nonprofit Growing Neighbors, which makes the food available at local farmer’s markets like the Garland Summer Market at affordable prices. Produce is also used to host community meals in partnership with Growing Neighbors and made available for worshippers to take home on Sunday mornings during harvest.
We call our garden the “Stands With Courage Garden.” In the First Nations Version of the Bible, the disciple Andrew - our congregation’s namesake - is called Stands With Courage for being one of the first people to follow Christ and his radical way of love. We envision the garden as a place where people, relationships, and community are nurtured.
WCEM’s Christmas Dinner Table meal in 2018
BUILDING COMMUNITY WITH OUR NEIgHBOrs
Over the years, we have partnered with West Central Abbey to help provide free weekly community meals in one of Spokane’s most underserved neighborhoods. Several of our members have actively volunteered, and have enjoyed serving meals and building relationships with neighbors experiencing homelessness. Others have given time cleaning up and organizing the space, wrapping gifts for the Christmas Dinner Table event, or serving on the Abbey’s leadership committees.
In 2023, 2024, and 2025 several of our members joined with the community for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity Rally & March through the streets of Downtown Spokane.
St. Andrew’s members march in Downtown Spokane for MLK Day (2023)
St. Andrew’s welcomes friends to our annual Neighborhood Barbecue on the church lawn (2022)
Spreading Kindness and fighting hunger
Installing our new food pantry!
In 2018, we installed a free food pantry on our church grounds with the help of our partners at Caritas Outreach Ministries. The message on the outside of the pantry reads, “take what you need, give what you can!” Church members and neighbors fill the pantry with soup, rice, and other foods, which are free and open to anyone in need. Our members continue to stock the pantry two to three times per week. Caritas is a collaborative effort of fourteen churches in Northwest Spokane demonstrating Christ’s love by assisting those in need in our part of town. The partnership includes efforts to address local hunger as well as and assistance with energy and utility bills. Caritas is comprised of partner congregations from numerous denominations, including Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, Quaker, and Presbyterian churches, among others. We are thrilled to be working together with other people of good will as we strive put our faith into action in ways that truly make a difference in people’s lives.
In 2021, our ever-talented member Phil created a free “book pantry” in front of St. Andrew’s to share the gift of reading with the neighborhood and to compliment our food pantry. Take what you need, give what you can!
Tracking food pantry contributions! (2022)
Our passion for sharing food and meals has manifested in many ways - in 2021, we hosted a 2nd Harvest Mobile Food Bank in our church parking lot. During the summer, we co-sponsored a free food and activities program for children called Stone Soup Cafe. The program was also housed at West Central Abbey and served thousands of meals to folks in central Spokane. Our Mission Administrator Tracey discussed Stone Soup Cafe on KXLY news in the summer of 2022.
Comforting The families of prisoners
St. Andrew’s provides volunteers and free event space for Kairos Outside, a ministry supporting the families of those community members who are facing incarceration. Kairos is based on the idea that when an individual is in jail or prison for whatever reason, that experience can have significant impacts on spouses, parents and relatives. Kairos exists to provide love, support, and kindness to those family members who are suffering while their loved one is away.
Our members give time and energy to charitable and civic causes in countless other ways, both outside the church and within it. We are always exploring new avenues for activism, outreach, and social justice. If you have a new ministry idea you think our church should consider, don’t hesitate to let us know!