Our History
 Like
every great movement of God, St. Andrew's began in the hearts
and minds of
a few people. Centred on the shore of Lake St. Clair, east of
Windsor, Ontario was a small community known as the Scottish Settlement.
As early as 1854 records indicate that James Struthers, a school
teacher, conducted Sunday school from his home while the adults
gathered in the home of Andrew Patillo. The first visits by a
minister to the community began around this time by Rev. William
King. In 1858, the congregation constructed the first church.
Five years later a formal congregation of 14 members and a session
of 2 elders was formed.
Over the next 20 years several ministers would provide services
until 1904 when Rev. A.R. Linton would begin a 17 year ministry.
In December, 1922 the heart of the people at St. Andrew's began
to long for a new place of worship. George Patillo agreed to provide
a 40 foot strip of land directly west of the existing cemetery
property. April 6th, 1924 saw the culmination of the project which
had drawn the people together to labour hard for their dream.
 Ministry
in the depression years which followed was difficult. Added to
the uncertainty was a series of brief stays by ministers which
continued until 1945. The post-war years brought hope for renewed
possibilities to the hearts of the people. This was strengthened
by the arrival of Rev. A.B. Ransom in 1945. He would serve as
minister until his death at the age of 79 in 1965. In 1956, additional
adjoining land was purchased and plans were made to erect a church
hall which would be a place of ministry not only to the people
of St. Andrew's but to the community as well. In January, 1961
the difficult decision was made to abandon the existing church
facility. Structural deterioration had rendered the building unsafe
for occupancy.
How the hearts of the people rejoiced at the dedication of that
new sanctuary on October 20, 1963. The  period
of February, 1972 through May, 1973 was filled by the student
ministry of Chuck Congram who came on staff full time. New facilities were added
in 1978-79 , an additional worship service was introduced and
a new sense of hope for the future was established. The decade
of the 80's was marked by the development of a staff team whose
commitment was to enable the people of St. Andrew's to build servant
hearts. With his retirement on December 31, 2006 after 35 years of ministry, Chuck now serves as a volunteer as well as Minister in Association.
It is so easy for a congregation to have hearts only for themselves
and the needs of the people for whom they care. St. Andrew's has
striven to maintain a heart for people who are not part of their
current ministry. This is also a story of people with a passion
burning in their hearts - a passion planted  by
God himself. Sensing that we live in a time of unprecedented need,
the people of St. Andrew's were, once again, being asked to expand
their horizons.
In July of 1998, the congregation (now known as Lakeshore St.
Andrew's) celebrated worship in their current Lakeshore facility.
As we see increasing numbers of individuals struggling with the
lack of spiritual meaning in their lives, we believe we can be
for them a place of discovery and rootedness – a place where
we can encourage them to have hearts to follow hard after God.
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