The story of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church is a story of faith. It began in May 1946 when Charles and Mary Eleanor Kidd moved to Hartwell from Alabama. Because there was no Episcopal church in Hartwell and no rector at St. Alban's in Elberton, they began attending Grace Episcopal Church in Anderson, South Carolina.

During a visit with the Kidd family in their home in Hartwell, The Reverend Roddie Reid
wrote to the bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta, the Right Reverend John Moore Walker. He suggested that the Kidd's and other Episcopalians in Hartwell start their own Episcopal mission and offered to help the Hartwell congregation during this process. It was not too long before the bishop assigned The Reverend Britt Ellington to St. Alban's in Elberton and instructed him to minister to the Episcopalians in Hartwell too.

The small Hartwell congregation named their mission St. Andrew's and began by holding services in their homes. It wasn't long before the Hartwell Presbyterian Church offered St. Andrew's the use of their facilities for one Saturday night service each month. Father Ellington and the congregation accepted the offer with much appreciation and had their first evening service there in 1948. This arrangement continued for about 5 years.

Because of health problems Father Ellington left after only a short time. The Reverend Victor Nicholson, who had already been sworn into service as a Navy chaplain, took Father Ellington's place for the few months until he received orders to report for active duty.

Four priests served the St. Andrew's congregation while it held worship services in the Presbyterian Church. The Reverends Harrison Black from Toccoa, John Paul Jones from Washington and Roberts Bailey from Gainesville and The Reverend Martin Tilson, from Anderson, South Carolina.

Then in 1956, The Reverend Bill Yon became rector for both the Hartwell and Elberton congregations. Young, energetic and dedicated, Father Yon sought a place where St. Andrew's could hold weekly Sunday school classes, as well as Sunday morning services. He secured permission to use the Hartwell Community Club House.

Meanwhile the U.S. Corps of Engineers' plans to build Lake Hartwell Dam were finally approved and a number of Episcopalians moved to Hartwell who were involved in this project. With the influx of these new members, Father Yon and all the members felt it was time to build a church of their own. Once again, they had faith that they could reach this goal. There were many other people in the community of Hartwell who supported St. Andrew's in a variety of ways.

In 1960, before construction began, The Reverend Yon was called to the Diocese of Alabama as youth director. He was replaced by The Reverend Frank Fortune who was rector for both St. Andrew's and St. Albans for five years. On Easter Sunday, 1961 Bishop Randolph Clairborne, Jr., consecrated the new dept-free church building.

In 1966, Reverend Milton Coward replaced Father Fortune. He was followed by Herschel Atkinson, who had already retired from a career in the military when he began his second career as rector of the yoked parishes of St. Andrew's and St. Alban's. He served with grace and dedication for 27 years and conducted his last service as minister of St. Andrew's on October 26th, 1997.

By the mid 1980's the congregation had clearly outgrown the original chapel. Although the number of communicants had increased, the congregation was not large. Once again, however, the people of St. Andrew's had faith that they could build something they could grow with. On November 30, 1987, St. Andrew' Day, the bishop of the diocese consecrated the new church. Just as with the construction of the first chapel, all expenses had been completely paid before it was dedicated.

Just as the Presbyterians had shared their sanctuary with the members of St. Andrew's in 1947, in 1993 when the Lutherans in Hartwell were organizing, they were invited to use the Episcopal sanctuary for their services at 11:00 am after our 9:00 am services.

In 1999, Father Jim Shumard was called to become the Rector of St. Andrew's. Following Jim Shumard, in 2001 Father Cass Daly came to lead our church as Rector. Under Father Daly's leadership, we became an "un-yoked", independent parish with our first full-time Rector. The parish operation and outreach budgets grew substantially and we were able to complete altar and choir loft renovations in addition to building a Memorial Garden.

In 2007 we welcome The Reverend Jim Clarke, as our Interim Rector. We are a parish that is a community leader in both spiritual and civic matters. We are ecumenical partners with Hartwell's Presbyterian and Lutheran churches and continue to be a strong Episcopal presence in N.E. Georgia. Our journey in faith continues.

Apostle St. Andrew

He saw his brother Simon first, and said to him, We have found the Christ. John 1: 41

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