About St. Andrew's
Here, faith is alive to wonder and beauty, grounded in generous welcome, and rooted in love for this place.
Who we are
At St. Andrew's, hospitality is at the heart of our shared life. We seek to make room for neighbors and strangers, difference and discovery, joy and grief—and for each person to grow into community without pressure or pretense.
We practice attention to beauty as a way of opening ourselves to God. In parish artworks such as Mary of the Ventura Coast and The Baptism of Jesus in the Ventura River, sacred stories are retold through the waters, native plants, animals, and peoples of this region.
As followers of Jesus in the Ventura River watershed, we are discerning what it means to belong faithfully to this place. Creation care begins close to home—including the seasonal Arbolada Creek behind our church—and extends into our participation in God's reconciling work: the healing and restoration of all Creation.
You belong here
St. Andrew's is an open-minded, open-hearted community. We especially welcome people whose spiritual paths are eclectic, who have not fit neatly within church culture, or who carry wounds from restrictive forms of Christianity.
Bring your experiences and the full story of who you are. We welcome thoughtful inquiry and do not confuse faith with certainty. Reason, science, imagination, and spiritual experience all have something to teach us as we seek truth together.
LGBTQ+ people are affirmed and fully included in our worship, leadership, ministry, sacraments, and common life, including marriage. Women serve and lead at every level of The Episcopal Church, and their voices, gifts, and authority shape our life at St. Andrew's.
There is room here for your story—and for the path still unfolding before you.
Meet the rector
The Rev’d William Knutson (kuh-NOOT-sun), known to most as Father Bill, serves as rector—the lead priest—at St. Andrew's.
Born in Seattle and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, he earned his undergraduate degree in literature from Occidental College in Los Angeles, then ran a rock-and-roll magazine in Hollywood. At the beginning of the internet era, he drifted back north to Silicon Valley, where he helped build some of the earliest online communities. He worked as a technical communicator for many years before answering a call to the priesthood in his late 40s.
His spiritual path included explorations of Zen Buddhism and Bhakti Yoga. Contemplative Catholic and diaspora Russian Orthodox thinkers led him back to his Christian roots, and meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu drew him—somewhat fitfully—into Anglican Christianity. He later earned a Master of Divinity from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Father Bill lives in Ventura with his wife of more than 30 years. They raised their two children, now adults, there. He can often be found running or cycling along our beautiful coast.
Write to Father Bill →Our wider Church
St. Andrew's is rooted in Ojai, but we do not stand alone. We share in a regional, national, and worldwide communion—connected through common prayer, shared ministry, and the reconciling love of Christ.
