The Vicar’s of St. Andrew’s
A Vicar, in the Episcopal Church, is a priest in charge of a mission congregation . A mission church is one that is just starting or may not have the resources to be on its own. The diocese provides most, if not all of the finances for the running of the church. The Bishop, as chief priest of the diocese, is considered the rector of the mission and he or she would appoint a vicar as a representative.
Between 1904, when St. Andrew’s was accepted as a mission, and 1992, when we became a parish, we have had 24 vicars. Our first vicar was Rev. Collins who was also the rector of Trinity in Chambersburg, he held services in the Reform Church and also in private homes until St. Andrew’s was built. He retired shortly after our church was finished and Rev. Trathen also from Trinity took over. After Rev. Trathen’s retirement, Rev. Chavasse continued the duties of both Trinity and St. Andrew’s.
Between 1912 and 1914 we had our first full time vicar, the Rev. David Pugh Griffith. Rev. Griffith was a accomplished poet and author. He was a member of the international Welsh musical and choral society, where he won many awards in their competitions. He was also the author of the book “The Last of Quills” a story of Welsh life in the late 1800’s.
On May 2,1915 Rev. John A. Miller was appointed vicar of St. Andrew’s. Rev. Miller became ill shortly after starting his duties and was taken to a hospital in Philadelphia where is died on St. Andrew’s Day. Rev. Miller was born in London and for a time was a priest of the Church of England. For many years he was the headmaster of Weymouth College. He was awarded the freedom of the city award and the Archbishop of Canterbury by the command of Queen Victoria conferred the Academic Degree of B.D to Rev. Miller.
Over the next few years St. Andrew’s was served by vicars who came and went in rapid succession, many serving a year or less. Some of this was due to the low membership and very low pay but while John Phillips was alive many young priests came here for the learning experience. Then they would leave to go to larger churches.
In December 1923, the Rev. George D. Graeff became rector at Chambersburg and vicar of Sr. Andrew’s. He gave the mission leadership for the next 26 years, but St. Andrew’s did not grow appreciably. Since Rev. Graeff lived in Chambersburg, so there was no need for a rectory, he with the help of Mrs Philips, converted it into a small home for aged women who lived within, what was then, the Diocese of Harrisburg.
In 1949 the Rev. Carlton N. Jones became vicar. He sought to make the mission viable and convert the home for the eight guests who lived there from an institution into a real home. He used every occasion to make the diocese aware that such a home existed and urged it to give generously at Thanksgiving time to supply some of its needs. Just in case you ever wondered how those envelopes in the bulletin in the weeks before Thanksgiving got started. With the urging of Rev. Jones the diocese acquired the home from St. Andrew’s and decided that it should be enlarged to meet a growing need. Rev. Jones died suddenly in April of 1954.
For the next six years St. Andrew’s was served by Rev. Anthony G. VanElden and the Rev. Arthur G. W. Pfafko. These were retired priests who both lived in Blue Ridge Summit.
In 1960 the Bishop seeing a need for a resident vicar to serve the home, church and Episcopal students who were attending Shippensburg State College, now Shippensburg University, Bishop Heistand appointed the Rev. Ralph T. Wolfgang. Although legally blind Father Wolfgang ministered to the residents of the Episcopal Home, visited students in their dorms and other places on campus and preached every Sunday. Rev. Wolfgang enjoyed music and translated the 1940 hymnal to braille. I have been told that if you knew a line from a hymn Father Wolfgang could tell you the page number and what hymn it came from. After a couple of years here Father Wolfgang’s wife got very ill and they decided to retire to Cherry Hill, New Jersey. During retirement Rev. Wolfgang did supply work near where he lived and wrote two book about the history of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania.
Our next vicar was the Rev. Paul Schwartz. There are no records to show where he came from or what he did before arriving in Shippensburg. He was a very soft spoken man, he wasn’t married but did live with his mother. There wasn’t enough money for him to be here full time so he was shared with St. John’s in Carlisle and did campus ministry at Dickinson College. Father Schwartz conducted the services here on Sunday and at the eight o’clock service he would preach while walking up and down the aisle. After a while he would stop and ask someone a question, it wasn’t long before everyone attended the late service where he preached from the pulpit. Father Schwartz left in 1964 to become the chaplain at Elnora State School for Boys, a reformatory in Virginia.
St. Andrew’s was without a priest for quite some time until Rev. Alexander Fraser was appointed. Little is known about Father Fraser other than he was married and had two daughters. From all reports he wasn’t well liked. It was reported that he wore a black cloak, that he never took off and rode a bicycle wherever he went. Not much happened at the church during his time line other than stocking up with candles. Father Fraser liked candles so he would go to different stores that sold candles and charge them to the church. The church was candle poor. Father Fraser was asked to leave in 1968.
By 1969 St. Andrew’s was in a bad situation. We had no Priest, a dwindling congregation, the church was in a state of disrepair and very little money. The diocese was ready to give up on us. Our next two vicars turned all that around. We will hear about that next week.