Who We Are

Our Mission
Seeking every day to love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

St. Andrew's holds the distinction of being the oldest church in Big Rapids still at its original location, and we are one of the oldest congregations in the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan. Both our building and our stained glass windows are on the Michigan Historical Sites list and the Michigan Historical Stained Glass Register.

Click here for more information on the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan.
Click here for more information on the Episcopal Church.

Central Michigan Episcopal Covenant
St. Andrew's has entered into the Central Michigan Covenant with St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Cadillac, MI. Both parishes are served by our Rector, the Rev. Radha Kaminski.
Click here for more information on our covenant with St. Mary's.

Staff
The Rev. Radha Kaminski, Rector, was raised in North Central Florida. She joined the Diocese of Western Michigan as a Hope College student in 2008, where she earned a BA in Classical Studies. She was ordained as a Deacon on July 12th, 2020 after receiving her Master of Divinity from Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX.

Mtr. Radha and her husband Matthew have one dog, Mara Joy, and two cats, Bob and Shirley. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting, board games, baking, and exploring the great outdoors with Matthew and Mara.

Mtr. Radha serves at St. Andrew's on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. She will be in the office on Thursdays and the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month from 9 am-noon. She is also available for Zoom and phone meetings. You can reach Mtr. Radha at [email protected] .

Covenant Administrator
Tara Lee

Tara was born and raised in Big Rapids, MI and received her bachelor’s and masters from Ferris State University where she also worked in the College Pharmacy. Recently retired from Ferris, she currently lives on Chippewa Lake with her Husband Cory and two Dogs, Cooper and Jade. She has two children, James who attends Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City and Connor who attends Ferris State University.

In her free time she is a Certified Personal Trainer where she loves to help others obtain their health and fitness goals. She also enjoys spending time with her family and friends, especially in the outdoors, whether it’s on the lake boating, fishing and paddle boarding or camping and exploring new places in the UP and other States all around the Country.

As Covenant Administrator, Tara supports the operations of both St. Mary's and St. Andrew's, and the Covenant as a whole. She is in the St. Andrew's parish office from 9am-noon, Monday-Thursday. She can be reached by emailing either of the church office email addresses ([email protected] and [email protected]) or by calling the St. Andrew's parish office.

The Rev. Robert Garrels, Director of Music, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Michigan and began his career teaching music before being called to ministry. While at his first parish in Texas in the early '70s, Rev. Garrels created innovative worship services and musical sermons for his congregation.
He returned to Michigan when called to serve as the Lutheran campus pastor at Central Michigan University in l973, where he enjoyed writing full-length musicals, chancel dramas, and miscellaneous musical pieces.

Bob moved to Big Rapids in 1988 and, in addition to his serving as minister of Immanuel Lutheran Church, continued to compose for various groups in the area, including the Ferris Community Chorus and the West Central Concert Band. Summer, Big Rapids, was performed in the community in 2002 and 2005, and The Circle Unbroken, was first performed in 2007. In 2012, Circle was chosen to be the closing event for the Big Rapids Festival of the Arts.

Since retiring in 2008, Bob continues to compose and perform in small jazz groups, The Key West Permafrost Blues Band, West Central Community Band, and in pit bands/orchestras for local theatrical productions.