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1953-1958
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Elder William E. Carpenter became the pastor in 1952. When the opportunity St. John’s came in April of that year he and 25 members formulated plans to purchase the old St. John’s Episcopal Church in Framingham Centre. One thousand of the $3,000 was set aside for the necessary repair work that would need to be done before the building could be used.  

The building had been vacant for 19 years prior to its purchase and required 6 months of volunteer labor to prepare for occupancy.  Re-decorating, painting, plumbing, and electrical work –all was done by the members, a labor of love for the Lord. 

With the hard work of the members and sacrifice of their finances the church became a lovely place to worship.  It was officially opened on October 4, 1952 with a consecration service held by Elder Merle L. Mills.

As members dreamed, ownership of their own church opened many opportunities.  The meeting of January 14, 1953 showed an increase in membership of 13 persons with a total of thirty-eight worshippers. 

Over the 1953-1954 winter, the church held a series of Evangelistic meetings in the Dennison Memorial Hall on Sunday nights.  The theme “Christ Over Framingham”.  The meetings included a song service, a film, announcements, and a sermon.  There was literature distribution, a special prayer chain, visitation to those who wished to attend.  The meetings were advertised in the newspaper and on the radio.  Members also sent out personal invitations. 

On November 28, 1953, the church elected two Elders, G. T. Glendrange and A. W. Scoffield.  Mrs. J. R. Henderson was Clerk and Mr. A. W. Scoffield was also Treasurer.  Pr. Carpenter was presiding over the church during this time. 

In 1954 the church voted to build a baptistery, with the work done by church workers.  During the month of October of the same year, Pr. Frank Harvey and his wife Mable and son Robert joined the church.  Pr. Carpenter moved to South Hampton, Bermuda in September 1954.

Miss Linda Ryder and Sister Halcobe were the first to be baptized in the new baptismal tank in March 12, 1955.  During the next seven years the church membership more than doubled.  The children’s Sabbath School membership increased from 4 to 40.

Along with an increase in membership, there came several problems.  Roland Henderson was in charge of the building committee and along with Carl Grieshaber and William Swatek solved the heating problems they were having. 

Another problem was that as more and more members had cars which the undersized lot was not able to accommodate.  Even after bulldozing trees and stumps, the problems persisted.

In May 27, 1956 the first wedding was celebrated.  It was the union of Elizabeth and Dominic Giampa.  The service was conducted by Elder Harvey.  The next wedding was on July 7, 1957 between Maria Rondinelli and Thomas Giampa.  Earlier in June, Pr. And Mrs. Harvey left for their new home in Greenville, TN.

During nominating committee, William C. Swatek, M.D. and Gabriel Glendrange were elected Elders.  Shirley Henderson was elected Clerk and Albert Scoffield was elected Treasurer.