History of St. Andrew's Catholic Community

The first Sunday Mass was celebrated in the multi-use room of Daniel Webster School on El Dorado Avenue and daily Mass took place at the rectory at 1 Ridgefield. As the new parish grew our celebrations were held in the gymnasium of Westmoor High School and later at Serramonte del Rey's gym.

In 1971, a store in St. Francis Shopping Center became available, and on June 11 of that year the first Mass was celebrated in our (rented!) store-front church. With our own (semi-permanent) home, we now had a parish office, a CCD office and a place for parishioners to gather for activities. There were meetings, dances, classes and many pot lucks.

After many fund raising meetings and much work, we were able to build our new home at the corner of Southgate and Sullivan. The church was completed in July of 1975 and on November 30, 1975, our new St. Andrew's Church - in the shape of St. Andrew's Cross - was dedicated by Archbishop Joseph McGucken.

While we were working to build a permanent home, we were also working to build church - that is - The People of God. We focused on what a post Vatican community such as ours should look like. Under the leadership of our first pastor, Father James Moher (1968 - 1978), our community was guided by the directives of the Second Vatican Council.

There was a strong focus on ecumenism, lay leadership was developed and social justice and outreach became an integral part of the lives of the laity. In the early days of the parish, we established Neighbors in Need, an interfaith organization to feed the hungry in Daly City. We organized one of the first Parish Councils in the Archdiocese and we addressed and debated issues such as justice for California farm workers and the Vietnam war.

Today, we continue our outreach to those in need: we now feed the hungry through St. Vincent de Paul Society; through our Jerusalem Fund we contribute money each year to local, national and international groups working with the poorest of the poor; many parishioners participate each year in the annual AIDS Walk; our Parish Health Ministry reaches out to those without adequate health care.

Our ecumenical efforts continued under the guidance of our third pastor, Father Frank Piro (1983 - 2000), with joint activities with 19th Avenue Baptist Church. We are now supporting ecumenical efforts in Daly City by providing our church for regular worship services with an ecumenical group in Daly City.

Under the direction of our second pastor, lay leadership flourished, as Father John Cloherty (1978 - 1983) encouraged the creation of many new organizations which were coordinated and guided by members of the community. More recently, the School of Pastoral Leadership, sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, has offered many parishioners an opportunity for excellent training to become strong lay leaders in our community. Our Parish Council is actively involved with our current pastor, Father Alex Legaspi, in guiding and directing our community.

The history of a parish is the story of its people, many people working hard to bring about a dream. St. Andrew Parish is the story of a great many people, living in harmony while rejoicing in their diversity. Anglos of many ethnic backgrounds, Filipinos, African Americans, Hispanics, other Asians, and more worked to build a church from groups of loosely connected individuals. Some of those early workers are still here; others have taken their God-given gifts and moved to other places. We are the beneficiaries of all who have gone before us, and we in turn, pass on our own giftedness to those who follow after.

The history of St. Andrew's Parish is short, but is continuing as we, The People of God, continue to proclaim the Good News and build the Kingdom of God in Daly City.