Profile | St. Mary of the Harbor

Church of St. Mary of the Harbor

Church of St. Mary of the Harbor Profile

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Community

Long referred to as the "outermost church," St. Mary of the Harbor is located in Provincetown, the community at the tip of Cape Cod, an arm-shaped peninsula that juts into the Atlantic Ocean. The parish is shaped by and transcends its geography.

Though small and remote, Provincetown has an outsize presence. As first landing place of the Pilgrims, the town's history is long. During those four centuries, Provincetown has been and is a fishing village, artist colony, tourist magnet, LGBTQ refuge, second-home escape, retirement destination, and summer job source. All sorts of people come here for all kinds of reasons. While conflicts do occur, starting with the Pilgrims' encounter with the indigenous inhabitants, Provincetown has the reputation of ultimately finding room for everyone, especially those that

may not fit in elsewhere. This is an ethos embraced, if sometimes imperfectly, at St. Mary's.

St. Mary's considers Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham, the other three towns on the outer Cape, part of our geographic parish, shared with the Episcopal summer chapel of St. James the Fisherman in Wellfleet. While each town has its own character, all are defined by the proximity of the ocean and geographical dominance of the National Seashore. The Church of the Holy Spirit in Orleans is the nearest year-round parish. St. Mary's is the farthest church from Boston headquarters in the Diocese of Massachusetts.

The population of the outer Cape swells in summer and shrinks in winter, a pattern mirrored by attendance at St. Mary's. Demographics skew older, with more retirees and fewer children than many locations, a situation also reflected at St. Mary's. A seasonal workforce made up of Bulgarians, Jamaicans, Latinx, and others provides surprising diversity.

For nearly 100 years, St. Mary's has been a steady beacon and safe harbor amidst literal and figurative swirling tides of its community, endeavoring to welcome all with a message of love, hope, and redemption.