History of St. Andrew's
In 1959 a group of parishioners mostly out of Calvary Church in Summit,
NJ had a vision of planting a new church in the town next door. It was
a little town, formerly called Turkey Town because of the big wild birds
that roamed through its woods. Some might say it was in the shadow of
Summit, but this town was about to take off. Bell Labs thought it would
be a good place to build a plant to do groundbreaking research. Scientists
and engineers brought their families as new housing developments were
built along the ridge called Murray Hill. Today Turkey Town and Murray
Hill are a part of the Borough of New Providence, New Jersey.
And so this visionary group appealed to Bishop Banyard, and to the Diocese
of New Jersey, to help pay for a plot of land on South Street, where a
large white house sat back off the road. The Diocese agreed it was a great
place to plant a new church, and fronted the money for the purchase of
the old d'Angelis estate. As the decision to build this new mission church
fell closest to St. Andrew's Day in 1959, which is November 30th, it was
decided to call the church “St. Andrew's.”
Next, the right vicar had to be called. A man with a broad vision himself,
a gregarious personality, and an affinity for music and the arts, The
Rev. Canon Charles Alexander Shreve was chosen. He is remembered as being
bigger than life to some. A Stanford University and Virginia Seminary
graduate, he had been made a canon at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco,
and had served in Rome, and as a chaplain to seamen in overseas ports.
He made friends with painters and singers wherever he went, and managed
to persuade them to visit St. Andrew's to share their talent.
Excitement mounted during Lent that year as the very first service was
planned on the lawn of the estate. In good faith, three hundred folding
chairs were set out on the grass, though it was anyone's guess how many
would come. Canon Shreve awoke on Easter Day 1960 to a light rain, and
must have felt a bit disheartened, but then the sun broke through the
clouds, and the glory of the Resurrection was celebrated at the very first
service at St. Andrew's. Three-hundred-and-thirty-three persons came out.
The first vestry was all men back in those days. They were a capable
group who built the sanctuary off the porch of the old house. It was ready
in time for Christmas Eve services in 1960. Canon Shreve and the vestry
determined that they would not be in debt for long, and indeed they went
from mission church to parish status in just a few years. Their next project
was to build a spacious parish hall in 1965, which was used not only for
church meetings, but for dinners, plays and concerts; for an AA group
that has been meeting there ever since; for Scout Troop #1, and now a
Brownie Troop.
Shreve then asked young mothers to start a child care program. Dubbed
the “Kiddy Koop”, it grew so fast it became a pre-school and
kindergarten, the first in the area. Under director Joan Mongioi, it was
described in the newspaper as the “Harvard of nursery schools,”
and selected as a teacher-training center.
One family, whose father was a scientist at Bell Labs, moved to New Providence.
Their daughter was confirmed in 1965. She grew up to be a scientist herself,
an oceanographer, a pilot, a priest, and then the Bishop of Nevada. Forty
years after her confirmation at St. Andrew's by Bishop Banyard in 1965,
she was consecrated the Presiding Bishop of the entire Episcopal Church
in 2005, the first woman in history with that calling. The third rector
of St. Andrew's was present on that day at the National Cathedral to witness
history and to pray for her ministry. She shared with the third rector
how she had been deeply influenced by Canon Shreve; and she loved the
church where she was able to ask questions: this was a thinking person's
church.
Other women made history at our parish when girls were first permitted
to become acolytes and Jane Parcells became the first female warden of
St. Andrew's.
In 1966, a young Spanish painter named Fernando Calderon came to stay
with his old friend Canon Shreve while he waited for a shipment of paintings
to arrive by boat from Spain, for an exhibition in California. The paintings
arrived too late for the show, but the Canon convinced him to linger and
paint the unique murals of the four Gospel writers and the twelve disciples
that grace our sanctuary, and the Nativity mural in the parish hall. All
for a dollar a day, plus room and board. The sanctuary murals became badly
chipped over the decades, as they were painted with the first acrylic
paints to be developed. In 2009 the murals restored by Joseph Tiedemann,
an outstanding conservator, who even went over to Spain to research our
project. In the spring of 2010, the School of Visual Arts in New York
City issued an article about the restoration of our murals.
The second phase of our history began when our second rector was installed
at St. Andrew's in 1985. The Rev. Alan French was a graduate of Duke University
and the General Theological Seminary in New York. The 1980's were a prosperous
time for our community and Alan's legacy was to build up the nursery school
and kindergarten to accommodate more families. Some of those families
made the crossover to the church community. St. Andrew's moved beyond
being a local school and attracted students from a four-town radius under
his wife, the school director Molly Parkman. Our faculty have always been
extraordinary gems in our treasure chest.
As the school grew, it became too cumbersome for the vestry to handle.
So the Rev. French began an advisory board for the school, consisting
of talented parents that reported to the vestry. The church profited from
the income of the school, and allowed the church to hire a larger staff
than other churches our size. Among the staff he hired was the very popular
youth minister, the Rev. Charlie Deaton, whose wife studied at The General
Theological Seminary in New York. His success with the senior high youth
group is fondly remembered. Youth and children's ministry continue to
be a very high priority for us.
We note that the third phase of our parish history began the very same
month that Canon Shreve died in California: August 2005. So when the Rev.
Margaret Hodgkins (Peggy) began her ministry as rector here, it was both
an ending and a beginning, a full circle in a way. She came from serving
as Associate Rector at the largest Episcopal Church in the state at Trinity,
Princeton, where she also was Associate Chaplain at Princeton University.
A graduate of Middlebury College and Union Theological Seminary in New
York, she was installed as the third rector by Bishop George Councell
in October 2005.
Highlights of her ministry include a welcoming and inclusive language
liturgy at the main Sunday service; the first interfaith Thanksgiving
service ever offered in Berkeley Heights or New Providence in 2006, held
for the wider community at St. Andrew's; a keen focus on children and
youth ministries; the restoration of the Calderon murals in 2009, and
the 50th Anniversary Celebration of St. Andrew's in 2010. Currently the
Rector and Vestry are working to carve out a fresh vision for the next
fifty years.
The church's 50th Anniversary in April 2010 was celebrated with a wonderful
dinner at the Murray Hill Inn. The Rt. Rev. George Councell graced the
event as our special guest and speaker. Former parishioners and clergy
who had moved away returned for the occasion, including the Rev. John
Hartman. Fifty years of ministry were portrayed in slides and stories
depicting the highlights of this close-knit faith community.
--Written and compiled by M. Hodgkins
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