The north end of our church building (liturgically speaking the "east" end, which is always the end of the church behind the altar) is called an apse.

The area behind the altar rail is called the Sanctuary.  This is where one kneels to receive the Eucharist in an Episcopal Church.  The word "sanctuary" comes from the Latin word "sanctus", which simply means "holy".  As Episcopalians, we believe that Jesus truly is present with us both in the Holy Communion and when we reserved the consecrated bread and wine in the tabernacle behind the altar. To signify that presence, a candle is always kept lit near the tabernacle. We call this area of the church the "Sanctuary" because it  is the holiest part of the church – the part where the sacred elements are consecrated in the lord's supper and reserved between celebrations of the Eucharist.

The area between the sanctuary and the pews is called the chancel.

The main body of the church is called the "nave".

Around the walls in the nave, there are fourteen pictures depicting Christ going to the cross. These are used for "Stations of the Cross" during Lent.

Our services use the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer, which is descended from the original Church of England "Book of Common Prayer" first written in the sixteenth century. Although you will find the same prayer book used at almost all Episcopal churches, the style of worship varies from church to church.  In this way, the Episcopal Church can offer a range of worship styles ranging from High Church (Anglo-Catholic) to Low Church (evangelical) to Charismatic.

At St. Andrew's, you will find a traditional style of worship in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.  Our services are deeply reverential and include an emphasis on both Sacraments and Scripture. Bells are rung at appropriate times during the service, and in some services incense in used. In our "Sung Mass" much of the Communion part of the service is sung.

In the ancient Christian tradition, churches of many denominations are built liturgically east-west, so that the congregation faces the east.  In Latin, this was known as ad orientem. Practical building considerations, however often require churches to be built in other directions, and therefore, the physical orientation of the church may be different from the liturgical orientation.

The Eucharist is also referred to as "Holy Communion" or "The Lord's Supper".

The tabernacle is a small cabinet at the base of the cross behind the altar.

The word nave comes from the Latin word "navis" which means "ship". The comparison of a church building to a ship was made in the early centuries of the church.