St. Peter’s was the first Episcopal church organized in Beverly. The first service was held on July 19, 1863 on the second floor in a building on the corner of Cabot and Essex Streets, then known as Union Hall. In the first years, mission support came from our mother church, St. Peter’s in Salem. In 1865 a Gothic style church was erected at the corner of Cabot and Bow streets at the site of the old Bell’s Market.

The parish served a wide and diverse area. Along the shore of Prides Crossing and Beverly Farms, an active and affluent summer colony thrived. Their attendance and support formed a very important part of parish life. By 1900, mission services started in Beverly Farms with St. Peter’s supplying pastoral support. In 1902, this mission was made a separate parish and became known at St. John’s Church, Beverly Farms.
 
St. Peter’s continued mainly as a working-class parish, surviving the loss of the summer people and year-round residents of Prides Crossing and Beverly Farms. In the early years of this century the economic character of Beverly changed rapidly, from cottage industries to factory manufacturing. In 1905 the United Shoe Machinery Corporation (now the Cummings Center), became the city’s principal employer, attracting qualified people from Europe, the British Isles and Canada. Many of these people found a church home at St. Peter’s.

With a growing congregation, space in the old church became critical, and in 1928 the Bancroft family donated land at the corner of Hale and Ocean streets, the site of the present church. The church was completed and dedicated on February 14, 1930. The mortgage was discharged in 1942 by the Rt. Rev. Henry Knox Sherrill, Bishop of Massachusetts. He later became Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

St. Peter’s flourished after World War II and space was again at a premium. A building campaign was launched and in 1957 and a new building was build behind the church on Ocean Street. It consisted of a hall, kitchen facilities and much needed classrooms. In November 1958 the new addition was dedicated. It continues to serve as a meeting place for the parish and provides a home for numerous community programs, such as our Sunday Night Suppers, Friday Night Outreach Suppers and Alcoholics Anonymous on Wednesday nights.

The 1960s and ’70s saw many changes in St. Peter’s reflecting the changes undergone by society as a whole. The parish weathered the adoption of the 1979 Prayer Book, the changing role of women and the young in parish life. The ordination of women into the priesthood brought us women seminarians and priests. The use of Eucharistic Ministers and Lectors opened up the opportunity for participation in services by anyone called to do so.

The 1990s were a time of great transitions in clergy and parish leadership. A longtime Rector retired in 1992. Two long periods of interim ministry sandwiched a short pastorate. Since 1999 our Rector has been the Rev. Manual P. Faria III. Through the turn of the 21st century the parish saw the same sorts of declines in numbers that many parishes and other volunteer organizations did. Bu the 2000s have brought stability and modest growth as young families have joined the parish.

St. Peter’s is actively involved in community affairs and is once again growing in faith and numbers. We are grateful for our past and enthusiastic about our future. Our church best expresses itself in our mission statement: St. Peter’s feeds God’s people — All are welcome at our table.