The setting was a basement recreation room of the rectory. Some forty persons packed the room, including teenagers and children. One of the parishioners strummed his guitar as the congregation sang a variety of hymns. The priest celebrated Mass at a makeshift altar whose top was a piece of plywood, covered with a tablecloth. Thus began Incarnation Parish.

When Father William M. Diersen was installed as pastor of Incarnation of Our Lord Parish in November 1966, he received permission from Archbishop Thomas J. McDonough to conduct home Masses because he had no church building. After combining the overflow of two crowded South End parishes, St. Paul and St. Lawrence, he had a 400 family parish. The home Masses were Father Diersen’s first step to help establish the parish and have the parishioners become acquainted with one another. With a good deal of enthusiasm and stewardship, groundbreaking took place shortly thereafter, and the long-awaited church building finally came to fruition.

Named Incarnation of Our Lord, the parish has about 1,000 parishioners, a strong faith formation program, a marvelous seniors group, a growing OCIA (formerly known as RCIA) program, an active youth group, vibrant sports programs, and various other ministries that support and build the spirituality, education and deep sense of community in the parish.