As a lector, Fernando Sanchez arrives early Sunday morning at St. Andrew Church to prepare the readings for Mass. He also helps lead reflections on the readings as part of the Spanish-language Christian initiation process for adults. And once a month he accompanies the Spanish language chorus, and wheels the sick from a local hospital into a hall where Mass is celebrated.

"It's a beautiful parish and I love everybody here," Sanchez, a parishioner since 1987, says proudly of his involvement in this 5,000-family, diverse parish. And when he finds the right girl, he also wants to be married in his parish church.

The involvement of parishioners like Fernando Sanchez is an expression of the spirit of this historic parish a few steps from Pasadena's Old Town district. Holy Names Sister Daleen Larkin, principal of St. Andrew School, calls it "a culture of community" --- an outgrowth of a rich history and sense of family.

"The spirit of the parish is tied into its history --- it's the mother parish in Pasadena," says Sister Larkin. And involvement and support is key to success of the parish. The history of the parish is especially important to Sister Larkin who represents a long line of Holy Names Sisters who have ministered in and loved this parish since 1895. "It's a ministry. It's a pleasure," she says.

For St. Andrew's pastor, Father Frank Colborn, St. Andrew's is "a center to which people come … the most diverse parish one could imagine with various ethnic groups and different walks of life. And we somehow manage to come together and make it work."

The four parish priests --- Father Colborn, pastor emeritus Msgr. Tobias English, and associate pastors Father Marco Gonzalez and Father Truc Nguyen --- reflect the cultural diversity of this parish. With the laity, they have established an atmosphere where all feel welcome. "Not only are all welcome," adds Father Colborn, "but they all come."

Msgr. English first came to the parish in 1977, and was its pastor from 1982 to 1999. The Irish-born priest loves the diversity, and is proud of "the spirit of friendliness, openness and acceptability of all peoples" that exists. "We have wealth and we have poverty right beside each other," he observes. "To be a priest you have to be as open to the poorest of the poor as you are to the richest of the rich. Then it seems to work."

The most satisfying achievement of Msgr. English's years as pastor is the growth of lay involvement in the parish since Vatican II. "We were able to make that transition. The laity is coming up to a level of participation in structure --- not all the governance yet, but in structure of cooperation and operation in the parish --- so that there are many more people involved in various ministries. That is very gratifying to see: people doing things when before they couldn't even come inside the Communion rail."

St. Andrew Parish "means everything" to this priest who enjoys his "retirement" as pastor --- but adds that he is only retired as pastor, not from priesthood, and leads a very active life in the parish. "I like this parish a lot and feel very accepted here," he says happily. "I love it very much."