In the early part of the 20th century, the Catholics of Wayne were attended to by the Franciscan Fathers of Paterson.  They purchased an old farm house which they converted into a chapel and called it Holy Cross.  Eventually a church replaced the chapel.
 
On January 1, 1944, Holy Cross was transferred to diocesan clergy and Rev. Edward Scully was named first pastor by Bishop Thomas McLaughlin, first Bishop of Paterson.
 
In 1950 the first Catholic school in Wayne was opened at Holy Cross parish under the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph.  They lived in a house in the Packanack Lake section of Wayne.
 
In 1954, Bishop James McNulty asked Msgr. Scully to expand church facilities in the Wayne community.  Land was purchased in Packanack Lake to form the mission of Immaculate Heart of Mary.  The Packanack Lake School Auditorium was rented for Sunday Masses.  The first mass was celebrated there in September, 1956.
 
After three years of careful planning, ground was blessed for the new building complex of Immaculate Heart of Mary.  The completed buildings were blessed by Bishop McNulty on November 29, 1959.  The new parish school was in full operation in September of 1959.
 
Immaculate Heart of Mary was formally established as a parish by Bishop McNulty in 1960.
 
Due to frail health, in October, 1974, Rev. Robert Morris was appointed co-pastor with Msgr. Scully.  Fr. Morris became second pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary upon the death of Msgr. Scully in 1975.
 
During Fr. Morris' tenure as pastor the temporary church building was converted into the permanent church.  Bishop Rodimer celebrated a Mass of Consecration in the newly renovated building in February 1980.
 
Fr. Morris was succeeded by Fr. Paul Knauer in 1987.  Under his guidance the parish established a Parish Advisory Council and hired a full time music minister.  The community began to expand, drawing in parish members from surrounding communities to Packanack Lake.
 
In 1995, Msgr. Louis Birh was installed as the fourth pastor.  Fr. Lou worked with the community to develop the Vision 2000 Project.  This dynamic building project added a full gymnasium, school media center and Pre-K class rooms to the parish complex.  The parish continued to grow.  By the celebration of the Third Millennium in January 2001, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish was ministering to over 1300 families.   This growth enabled an explosion of ministries.   Under the direction of Mr. Warren Helms, Pastoral Associate in Music Ministry, IHM has developed three liturgical choirs; an outstanding Adult Choir, a Children's Choir and a Teen Choir. Warren passed away in September 2020 and is dearly missed by all.  Youth Ministry has participated in working with Wayne Special Olympics, numerous outreach programs to area senior residences and on a mission program to Kentucky.
 
In June of 2003, Bishop Rodimer appointed Rev. Daniel Kelly, the fifth Pastor of the parish community.  Under Fr. Dan's direction, the mission of the parish continued, enabled by the vibrant faith, commitment and love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Faith Community.

In 2018, due to illness, Fr. Dan took retirement and Bishop Serratelli appointed retired Navy Chaplain Rev. Michael J. Parisi as the sixth pastor of the parish. In March 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of Diocesan church buildings, Father Parisi started live-streaming masses over the Internet with the assistance of several parishioners. It was a first for IHM, and had brought us steadily into the digital age. Necessitated by Covid-19 social distancing requirements, IHM also began to celebrate public liturgies outdoors in the parking lot, dubbed "Mass on the grass." 

In June 2020, Fr. Parisi was transferred to St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Mountan Lakes. Rev. Mateusz Jasniewicz was appointed by retiring Bishop Serratelli as the seventh and current pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary. A native of Poland and former Parochial Vicar of St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Clifton, Fr. Matt quickly got to work updating and expanding the use of technology in the church and school and spearheaded many improvement and refurbishment projects to the Church and School buildings. He established the new multimedia ministry which continued and enhanced the parish live-streams and provided other digital services to parishioners and the wider community. As the health crisis continued, this ministry serves as a vital outreach to parishioners unable to attend Mass in person.