History

A HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN

NASHUA NEW HAMPSHIRE

1700’s

In 1736 infrequent services were held in the area called Dunstable.  This township was made up of what is now Nashua, Hollis, Dunstable and Tyngsboro.  A circuit priest of the Church of England was sent from either King’s Chapel in Boston or Queen’s Chapel in Portsmouth.  The services were held in the homes of the members of the Anglican Church.  The priest would stay at that home for several days and administer the several rites required of him – baptisms, weddings, communions, blessing of the grave rites, etc.

1800’s

When the United States became independent and a new century had dawned, we became the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America.   In 1845 a group of Episcopalians petitioned the Bishop who was in charge of the Missionary District of Northern New England, consisting of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, for permission to establish a mission here in Nashua.  The Bishop, Alexander Griswold, granted that permission and a congregation was established here.  Initially services were held in private homes, then in the courtroom of the old City Hall.  In 1857 one of the clergy, the Rev. Isaac Hubbard of Grace Church in Manchester, called a meeting here in Nashua to consider organizing a parish.  This resulted in the formation of St. Luke’s Parish.  The cornerstone of the church building was laid in April of 1858.  The building was erected on the point of land across from the recent Senior Center where Temple and West Pearl Streets converge.  What happened from then on lies buried in history.  In ten years a parish was formed, a church built, the parish was served by seven different Rectors and then shut.  Luke’s Parish “went into darkness” to quote Bishop Chase.  He further said, “A very great and afflictive evil in this parish has been the very frequent change of the ministers.”  During that ten-year period the longest time any Rector served was eighteen months, most ranging from one month to a year.  In 1868 the Bishop refused to send any more clergymen and closed the church.  For about two and a half years after the church was closed services were held regularly in the home of one of the faithful and was led by the Clerk of the Vestry as Lay Reader.  On June 11, 1871, a Roman Catholic Mass, in French was celebrated in the building erected and used by the people of St. Luke’s.  At the same time the Roman Catholic Bishop of New Hampshire announced, at the Mass, that the new parish of St. Louis de Gonzague was organized.  From that Mass have come the parishes of St. Louis de Gonzague, Infant Jesus, St Francis Xavier, St. Joseph, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and St. Joseph’s orphanage.  It would appear that even though ecumenism was not thought of in those days, we were instrumental in assisting the French Catholic congregations in their getting a start in Nashua.

“The Churchman” July 1878 - An American Episcopalian periodical published in the 19th and 20th centuries.[1]

The parish of The Church of the Good Shepherd was organized in 1871 and Bishop Niles, the father of one of our Rectors, purchased the site on which our church now stands in 1876.  The cornerstone was laid on July 5, 1878.  The church was built with money given by Mrs. Lucia Rand of Connecticut and Charlestown, NH in memory of her daughter Sarah Rand.  The church was consecrated on November 21, 1878, by Bishop Niles and services have been held ever since.  It took but one hundred and thirty-nine days to build the church.  Originally gas lights were used and then electricity was installed in 1896.  The original alter was made of wood and was hand carved by one of the parishioners.  However, when the marble alter was installed the old altar seems to have disappeared.

Main Street, Nashua, NH; 1905 postcard. [2]

Church of the Good Shepherd Grounds 1939 [3]

Interior of the Church Chancel and alter decorated for Easter 1940 [4]

A view from Main Street around 1950 [5]

1900’s

The original parish house, a large one-room affair, was built in 1890.  The present parish hall was built in 1928 and offices for Rector and staff added in 1954.  The present reredos and chancel windows were installed and dedicated in 1948.  In 1949 the organ was updated and in 1989 rebuilt and the antiphonal organ installed and dedicated.  In 1992 a second floor was added to the office area to house the Nashua Pastoral Care Center and in 1995 the main hall, all basement classrooms and the music room were renovated.

In 1978 CGS founded and separately incorporated the Nashua Pastoral Care Center, the official outreach arm of the parish.  In that same year Good Shepherd was named a Jubilee Ministry Center of the Episcopal Church, recognizing the excellence in ecumenical and community outreach accomplished by the work of the Care Center.

2000’s

Today the Church of the Good Shepherd celebrates over 150’s years of service and dedication to the City of Nashua and the surrounding communities in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

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