By the early 1900’s there was a sizable population of Ukrainians in towns such as Deerfield, Sunderland, and Whately, Massachusetts with smaller populations in Hadley, Amherst, Greenfield, and Hatfield. Other families, though fewer in number, settled in hill towns such as Conway and Ashfield, and in communities in southern Vermont and New Hampshire. Farming became the livelihood for most of these families. There was, increasingly, the desire to establish a church that reflected their time-honored traditions. Most attended Roman Catholic churches, but deeply missed their own Liturgy. Through the encouragement of some local Roman rite clergy, an initial meeting was held to discuss the feasibility of starting their own church. Soon, a nucleus of 60 to 80 families was formed. The official establishment of the parish occurred in 1920 on Sugarloaf Street in South Deerfield, Massachusetts.

In 1988 Father Basil Juli began serving at the Descent of the Holy Spirit Ukrainian Church in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. He was the grandson of Ukrainian immigrants. For six years he studied iconography (the artwork and symbols) of the Catholic Church. This image shows the interior of the Holy Spirit Church with a collection of icons and iconostases (screens of icons). Icons are reminders of a religion’s beliefs. Those in Ukrainian churches often include images of Christ, Mary as the mother of God, saints, feast days, and people from the Old Testament of the Bible.