On May 9, 1955, Fr. Mayan celebrated the first Palmyra Mass in Seltzer’s Theatre. On May 26, 1956, Bishop Leech signed a contract for The Church of the Holy Spirit as a Mission Church of St. Joan of Arc.

The Church and Social Hall were completed one year later, with our first Mass, celebrated by Fr. Mayan, on June 9, 1957. On August 25, Bishop Leech officiated at the solemn blessing and dedication of The Church of the Holy Spirit.

From 1957 until 1965, Holy Spirit was served by St. Joan of Arc, with no independent organizations or activities. Our members functioned through the mother church as their priests attended to our spiritual needs.

On May 28, 1965, our congregation was constituted as an independent Parish Community and its first resident Pastor, Fr. Francis Lahout, was appointed by Bishop Leech. Holy Spirit continued to grow in numbers and in ministries, just as it does today.

ARCHIVES MINISTRY VIDEOS: The Archives Ministry has posted two videos on our YouTube channel, Holy Spirit Palmyra, https://www. youtube.com/@HSArchives. We wish to thank Phil Serio, AV Ministry leader, for providing the technical expertise for the videos. We hope you enjoy them!

• The Synod Statements video consists of selected comments from survey takers that are representative of the responses given to the question, “What is Holy Spirit Parish doing well to promote our journey”?
• The Ministry Statements video relays how our Holy Spirit ministries have impacted others. The stories are provided by the ministry leaders.

Questions or comments about our archives?
Would you like to join the Archives Ministry?
Please email archives@hspalmyra.com