Our Worship is Service,
Our Service is Worship
Mission: St. Andrew’s is a neighborhood church with a mission of being a good neighbor by acting with humility, hospitality, and integrity in our community.
A lot of us are worried these days, looking for meaningful relationships and wanting to be seen and known and valued as we are, and St. Andrew's is a kind of informal, weird yet warm, old-fashioned yet kinda funky, answer to some of these ills.
You don't have to believe any sort of thing to come here and belong—it's a church where folks can be human together; visit and sing and share space, where awkward things happen, people of different generations become friends, and everyday people make contributions that matter. We're unapologetically pro-Jesus, seeing him as a revolutionary figure of change, compassion and belonging.
We are in solidarity and community with the poor, marginalized and LGBTQIA2S+ folks, and it’s super important to us that people who haven’t always been welcome in church or in society are honored here.
Worship Times:
Sundays at 10:30am, Wednesdays at 12pm
7600 N Hereford Ave., Portland
Parking available off of Hodge
We are queer, we are immigrants, we are lawbreakers, we are misfits, we are social justice grannies, we are on the spectrum, we are survivors of religious abuse.
About Us
Church Can Be Hard!
It can be hard to step into a new church for the first time. It can be especially tough if church hasn't always been a safe or affirming place for you. If you are thinking about visiting St Andrew's, please know that you will be welcomed with dignity here. You'll be greeted by folks--including our priest--who are glad to see you, but you won't be pressured to do anything. There is tissue in most of the pews, because church can be an emotional place. You can choose whether or not to participate in the liturgy, or just let it wash over you. You might decide to visit a few times to help you decide if this community is a good fit for you. We trust and pray that the Spirit is guiding you as you seek a spiritual home.
Leadership
Learn more about our amazing leadership team!
Vicar
Rev. Jennifer Creswell
Jennifer and her sweetie from Grant High School, Ian Doescher, became parents during seminary at Yale Divinity School (where she reluctantly enrolled after telling people “I don’t talk in front of people”). God called her to talk in front of people. She served as a curate at Grace Church in Millbrook, NY before moving back home to Oregon to serve as rector of St Luke’s, Gresham. Since then, Jennifer has spent her time as a hospital, hospice, and palliative care chaplain, as a postpartum doula, and now as vicar of St Andrew’s. She is mom to Liam and Graham (both in college), god-mom to 10-year old basketball whiz Joseph, and dog-mom to Thorfinn. Jennifer is no longer a young clergy woman, but when she was, she was on the inaugural board of The Young Clergy Women Project (now Young Clergywomen International).
Interfaith Community Chaplain
Rev. Charlotte Cramer
Rev. Charlotte is an Interspiritual / Interfaith Minister and Community Chaplain based in Portland, OR. She holds a Master of Divinity with a concentration in Chaplaincy from Starr King School for the Ministry and is ordained by The Chaplaincy Institute, where she also earned a Certificate in Chaplaincy. She earned her four CPE units from The Shaw Chaplaincy Institute in Marin County, CA. Charlotte is the founder of the nonprofit Temple of the Forgotten, an organization dedicated to helping communities recognize, understand and uphold the spiritual rights of people experiencing homelessness and marginalization in the U.S. Charlotte considers herself a social-spiritual innovator, passionate about using the core tools, skills, and experiences of spirituality to enrich individual lives, build healthy community, and transform the social & cultural systems of our society.
Deacon
Deacon Mel Foresman
Mel was born and raised in Santa Barbara, CA, and moved to Oregon in 1989. Mel has three grown daughters, three grandchildren, and one great granddaughter. She and her wife Gale happily live in Happy Valley (!). Mel is a self-proclaimed church nerd; a voracious reader, and she enjoys taking her dog Howie on long walks. Prior to her ordination to the diaconate in May 2026, Mel taught public school in outer SE Portland. Mel has a deep need to show up for those who don’t have their basic needs met. A call to the diaconate that Mel sensed many years earlier came roaring back when she retired. With God’s gracious (and often surprising) guidance, Mel began discerning what that call might look like in this new season of her life. With support from her former parish (St. Luke’s Gresham), God, family, and friends, she graduated from Bexley Seabury’s new deacon formation program. St. Andrew’s is her first assignment as an ordained deacon.
