Our history
Built at the Crossroads
St. Andrew's was first organized in October 1889 when the Rev. Dr. Endicott Peabody, headmaster of nearby Groton School, began the work of founding an Episcopal mission in Ayer. That work resulted in the present attractive stone church being completed in December 1892.
In January 1898 the Bishop and Standing Committee reorganized St. Andrew's Mission, Ayer as St. Andrew's Parish in Ayer and Groton. St. Andrews Parish was again reorganized in June 1901 before its admission to the Diocesan Convention. This reorganization combined the mother church at Groton School and the parish church in Ayer.
The Rev. Dr. Endicott Peabody supported and encouraged the parish for many years until his retirement from the Groton School in 1940. His support ensured the existence and continuance of St. Andrew's. In 1950 the official connection between Groton School and St. Andrew's was ended, and St. Andrew's Ayer became an independent parish.
St. Andrews maintains a close relationship with the Groton School.
Parish Changes
The St. Andrew's Parish has changed significantly in the living memory of the church, always moving towards a more loving and accepting communion. Some of these changes were a response to major challenges in the nation, the national church, and within our own
community. In responding to these challenges the parish has continued to nourish and proclaim a truly welcoming identity that is at the heart of parish life and worship.Those major challenges have included the ordination of an LGBTQ Bishop in a nearby diocese (2003), working with a Rector who was not a good fit for the parish (2005), and most recently COVID-19 (2019). With each challenge, the parish has unfortunately lost congregants who did not share our common values. In the journey through these challenges, the parish response has been to strengthen our core values of love and acceptance and provide the opportunity to show our care and concern for each other.
Other changes in the parish over the same period of time include; a move from two services on Sundays (Rite I and Rite II) to one service (Rite II and a variety of other materials), the move of coffee hour from a small room in the church to our nearby and larger Parish Hall, focussing on our Sunday school program and being more family friendly, constantly investing in our buildings and grounds (especially related to accessibility and energy efficiency), and most recently the live video broadcast of our Sunday worship with a feature to view later.
Community Changes
The Town of Ayer has also changed at the same time as the Parish. Ayer is a former “base town” with the neighboring Fort Devens Army Base closing in 1994. Ayer has recovered from some economic hardship at that time to become a growing and thriving town today.
New families and professionals are attracted by the Commuter rail station in town with access to the City of Boston, a new High School (built in 2015), new Sports fields (added in 2022) and new houses being built at the fastest pace in Massachusetts. The main street of town has old and new restaurants in addition to other businesses.
