Born in Pennsylvania, Tara moved to the sunshine state as an eighth grader. A faithful Pittsburgh sports fan, Tara hoped to return to PA for college. Instead, God led her to Jacksonville, FL and the University of North Florida where she earned a degree in Psychology. Upon college graduation, Tara worked at Publix as a department manager for several years before attending Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts and earning her Master’s of Divinity degree. She served two churches in Florida and one in Pittsburgh, PA before Jesus led her to Beaumont to serve as St. Andrew’s pastor.

Tara is a teacher at heart and loves helping others discover how Jesus has gifted them for service in building His Church. She describes her ministry style as relational, which involves experiencing life together, bearing witness to Christ's activity, and encouraging one another on the journey of faith.

Tara's hobbies include sports, reading, art, and traveling. She has visited six of the seven continents and has nurtured ministry partnerships in ten countries. She loves meeting new people and is excited to do life and ministry with us in southeast Texas.

Thomas came to St. Andrew's with a variety of musical experiences. From childhood, he has played piano and sang in church. He has served as assistant director and head music director leading worship in church since 2011. He has studied under many great professors of piano, organ, and voice. Thomas is always practicing or studying music to continue his growth as a musician and to continue honoring God with the talents he was blessed with. Thomas's love for music and worship is evident every Sunday. His leadership from the piano and organ will encourage you to worship God through songs of praise.

Rachel is our administrative assistant and organist. In 2021, she graduated from Lamar with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and is now working on a Master of Music. She has played in churches for over ten years now, something which she finds immensely fulfilling. (When she was in elementary school, her dad played in church and her initial reason for taking up piano was so she could play in church too!) Her secondary instruments are harp and organ. In her spare time, she enjoys baking and reading.

Patricia Williamson has worked as a music educator, collaborative pianist, and piano soloist in the Beaumont area for over two decades. Raised in a large musical family, she studied piano and euphonium in Houston, receiving her BM in piano performance and music education from Lamar University. She enjoys both instrumental and vocal performance: Patty is currently the principal keyboardist of the Symphony of Southeast Texas, directs a church youth a cappella chorus, sings in the Interfaith Choral Society, and still loves to play euphonium. In her twenty years as an educator, she has worked as a band director and an elementary music teacher, owned a private piano studio, and is currently the choir director and class piano instructor at Memorial 9th Grade Academy in Port Arthur ISD. In 2020 she returned to Lamar while working as church secretary and graduate assistant, earning a MM in piano performance. She is the mother of five children (ages 6 through 20), wife to a guitarist/high school administrator, and an avid reader. She enjoys running and takes every opportunity to be around the water.