User:Palmalli/Church of the Holy Spirit, Wayland (Wayland, MA)

Church of the Holy Spirit, Wayland is an Episcopal church located at 169 Rice Road in Wayland, Massachusetts, a Metrowest town halfway between Boston and Worcester. The church was founded in 1960 and officially became a Parish-in-Union of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts in 1964. The current rector, The Rev. Dr. Frederick P. Moser, has been leading the church since 1995.

Founding
The first meetings to determine interest in an Episcopal Church in Wayland were held in the Fall of 1958, with meetings continuing through 1959, and a survey of residents in Wayland and surrounding communities in 1960. Once it was apparent that there were a sufficient number of interested people, the first meeting of the Mission was held on October 26, 1960 in the Happy Hollow Elementary School. 150 people were in attendance that day. Formal worship services, in the form of evening prayer, discussion, and pot-luck suppers began during Lent on February 16, 1961 at the Wayland High School. The church choir sang for the first time on March 16, 1961, and the Mission celebrated the Eucharist together for the first time on Maundy Thursday, March 30, 1961.

With 109 communicants, the Mission was incorporated as a Mission-in-Good Standing of the Lowell Archdeaconry of the Diocese of Massachusetts on June 27, 1961. The name, "Church of the Holy Spirit" was adopted at this meeting, and the first vestry, including one woman, was elected. On September 3, 1961, the Rev. Donald W. Noseworthy was named Vicar of the church. The Mission purchased a rectory soon after and held its first Annual Meeting on January 8, 1962.

Nathaniel Hamlen presented the Church with its current land on Rice Road in 1963. The ground-breaking ceremony for the church building was held on September 3, 1963. The service for the ground-breaking had to be moved several feet from the intended spot so as not to disturb a nesting dove. On Whitsunday, 1964, the Church became a Parish-in-Union of the Diocese of Massachusetts, and on November 15 of the same year, the church building was dedicated by the Bishop and Rev. Noseworthy was instituted as Rector.

1965-1985
From 1965-1975, the church established itself more firmly in Wayland, joining in on various community outreach projects, purchasing a new organ, and dedicating a churchyard on its property for the interment of cremated remains. Rev. Noseworthy left the Church in 1969 to accept a call elsewhere, and on October 1st of that year, the Rev. David K. Johnston became the second Rector of the Church of the Holy Spirit. Rev. Johnston served the Church until August 1975, when he resigned and the Rev. Ralph Macy took over as Interim Rector. A new permanent Rector, the Rev. Roger William Smith, led his first service at the Church on July 18, 1976.

The next ten years were a time of growth for the church. In 1981, a memorial bell and bell tower were erected by the church, and in 1982, the Church celebrated the paying off of the mortgage on the church building with a "Mortgage Burning Ceremony." Also in 1982, the Church hired Julie Norton as the director of Religious Education. She became Assistant Rector in 1983, the same year she was ordained, and took over as Interim Priest when the Rev. Smith accepted a call in South South Carolina in December 1983. She continued in this position until the Revs. Cassius and Anne Webb became Rector on September 1, 1985. As the Church celebrated its 25th year in 1985, it served 220 households including 680 communicant members.

The Church Today
The Church of the Holy Spirit continues to serve families in Wayland and the surrounding communities, with worship services every Sunday at 10am.