St. Andrew United Methodist Church

Website: www.thepumpkinchurch.org

Services: 8:30 and 10:45 a.m. traditional, 9:30 a.m. contemporary

Average Sunday Attendance: 400

Ministers: Rev. Mack Riley, Rev. Angie Crummie

Denomination Affiliation: United Methodist

Mission statement:

St. Andrew strives to be a family of caring, nurturing followers of Jesus Christ welcoming all those seeking to know and grow in God's service.

History:

In April 1962, a small group of Methodists began a new church that met at Blackwell School. They chose the name St. Andrew because the apostle Andrew was considered a doer, doing the work of the Lord. The first sanctuary, completed in 1964, is now the Community Room. The education building opened in 1973, the present sanctuary was built in 1986, and the Keheley Center opened in 1999. The church has more than 350 families as members.

Pastors’ paths:

Riley, born in Tupelo, Mississippi, felt a call to Christian ministry when he was a college junior. He graduated from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), and later received a Master of Divinity at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Riley was ordained elder in 1981 and has served a three-point circuit, a two-point circuit, held staff positions at two churches, and pastor in charge at five churches.

Crummie is an Atlanta native, and worked as a Registered Nurse for 35 years before being called into full-time Christian ministry. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Religious Studies at Liberty University and her nursing degree at Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing (now part of Mercer University). Crummie earned her Master of Divinity at Candler, and is a candidate for ordination as an elder in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Ministries:

Church members support MUST Ministries by serving meals once a month at Elizabeth Inn and collecting canned food for the pantry. For 25 years, St. Andrew senior high students and chaperones have participated in the Appalachian Service Project. Mission teams travel to Kentucky each summer, where they work to make homes safer and drier. This summer, a team of 35 youth and adults is scheduled to go.

“They love it. They just can’t wait to go back the next year once they’ve gone,” Crummie said. “The middle school students are eager to go into high school so they can take part in the mission.”

Summer also finds around 400 youth and children participating in St. Andrew’s Vacation Bible School. It’s a large community outreach that was chosen two years ago to be the test church for future Cokesbury VBS programs. In fact, photos of staff members and VBS participants can be seen in the “Shake It Up!” material.

“It was a big honor to be asked to do that,” Crummie said. “They gave us the program and the skit, but we had to come up with our own props. Only four churches in the country were asked, and we gave our ideas and suggestions about the materials.”

The Marietta church sponsors support groups for people dealing with breast cancer, grief and divorce.

On a global level, the Andrew Christian School in Haiti receives annual monetary support. Every couple of years, a mission team travels to the 35-student school.

Thoughts from the pastor:

“St. Andrew is a very friendly, loving and nurturing church that has a strong desire to reach out into the community,” Crummie said.