A Walking Tour

As you enter the church through the red doors on College Avenue, a small vestibule or anteroom is located on the left. It contains the wooden altar originally installed in 1930. In this room are two stained glass windows, one detailing the history of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Maryland, and the other giving the history of St. Andrew's. The windows in the chapel depicted in the latter window are made out of glass from the original chapel windows.

As you move up the side aisle you will pass a series of stained glass windows on the lower level that represent major events in the life of Christ. The windows in the upper (clerestory) level all depict parables. A series of elegant stone arches frame the side aisles and the ceiling is supported by beautiful wooden timbers brought from North Carolina in 1929.

Directly ahead is the anteroom used by the choir for robing. Upstairs are various organ components, downstairs is the undercroft. Located to the right is the sacristy.

The pews are in excellent condition and all of the kneelers in the sanctuary were made by women of the church as memorials. The Bishop's chair is in the northwest corner. Located at the very front of the sanctuary is a marble altar which was installed in 1964. The stained glass windows depict "The Great Commission" and Mary and Holy Ann.

As you walk down the side aisle from the sacristy, you will pass more stained glass windows. They depict Old Testament Bible stories. Psalms are depicted in the clerestory windows above. The two stained glass windows in the vestibule directly ahead depict the history of the city of College Park and the University of Maryland.

A door on the left leads to the breezway that connects the sanctuary to the parish hall and also has doors that open up to the front lawn and the garden in the back.

History of the Buildings and Grounds

In 1930, with the help of Bishop Freeman and the Phillips Foundation (which was concerned with the construction of Episcopal churches in college towns), the present church was built on the lots previously purchased on College Avenue.

The Baltimore Sun described the buildings as 12th century Gothic, with a capacity of over 400, and "lancet" windows.

Bishop Freeman dedicated the building in October of 1930. More than 600 attended the dedication, making it the largest congregation ever assembled in College Park.