One important responsibility of Convention deputies is to vote upon resolutions consolidating two congregations into one, as well as the N.J. State-required “extinct mission resolution” for congregations whose ministry has concluded.
At the 140th Annual Convention, deputies adopted resolutions approving the consolidation of Church of the Transfiguration, Towaco and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Lincoln Park, New Jersey into Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Montville/Lincoln Park, and officially closing Christ Church, Belleville and St. John’s, Union City.
Before the votes, the Rev. Canon Gregory A. Jacobs, Canon to the Ordinary, spoke celebrating the new ministry of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Montville/Lincoln Park, and paying tribute to the ministries of Christ Church and St. John’s. Here is what he said.
Celebration of New Ministry: Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Montville/Lincoln Park
In past years, I have had the pleasure of introducing to this convention, newly-formed congregations who have sought to be admitted to our diocese as parishes. In 2010, we welcomed Trinity Church, Allendale. In 2012, we celebrated the new ministry of All Saints Episcopal Korean Church, Bergenfield. This afternoon, we rejoice that Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Montville/Lincoln Park will be presented for admission as a parish in the Diocese of Newark.
When I came to this diocese in 2008, St. Andrew’s, Lincoln Park and Church of the Transfiguration Towaco had just begun to explore the possibilities of a yoked ministry. Both congregations had initially been in search for new rectors, and the conversation centered on inviting the then Interim Priest at Church of the Transfiguration, Dick Andersen, to take on the clerical responsibilities of both congregations. It wasn’t too long before both congregations and Dick (in particular) recognized that this arrangement of going back and forth between congregations each Sunday and during the week just wasn’t working for anybody.
In 2009, David Cabush became Priest-in-Charge and the congregations worked in earnest to combine services, meet as a joint vestry, hold one annual meeting, and explore what it might mean to minister and act as one congregation. David agreed to walk that journey with them. BRAVE MAN. And having David there first as priest-in-charge and later as rector of both parishes provided the kind of determined and stable leadership and guidance that was needed to see what God might be calling these congregations to be as partners in mission and ministry.
Then about two years ago, their continuing engagement in several joint ministries got David and the lay leadership to consider what a unification of the two parishes might look like. Inspired by the earlier unification that created Trinity Church, Allendale, the leadership asked Bernie Milano, one of the chief architects of the Trinity Church unification, and John Garde, who had guided Trinity through all the legal requirements required by our state laws and our canons, to assist Transfiguration and St. Andrew’s in creating a plan for unification of the two parishes. There was many a meeting, exchanges of information, open and honest discussion about how this proposed unification would affect the people of both parishes: What would be gained? What would be given up? What sacred cows might need to be transformed into Heavenly Hamburgers? But David and the leadership patiently prodded the congregations forward, and the rest is history, as they say. The unification of the two churches was approved by the congregations in September of last year.
But that is not the end of the story, for there are two buildings still to contend with, two nursery schools, much administrative consolidation that needs to be done. The congregations, however, have wisely discerned that these are future challenges, and not present roadblocks.
So their mutual discernment has led them to adopt the following mission statement for this new church: “We are united by our shared community and our tradition of Episcopal worship and common prayer. We seek to proclaim the love of God, and to serve Jesus Christ through the ministries of our congregational life which welcomes all God’s children.” May it be so.
Tribute to Christ Church, Belleville
Christ Church, Belleville was established in 1746 by royal charter granted by the King of England, George II. Many of Belleville’s leaders comprised the membership of the early Christ Church, and several of the community’s founders are buried in the Christ Church Cemetery. It was officially incorporated as “Christ’s Chapel” in 1835.
In subsequent years, Christ Church, Belleville started mission churches in Bloomfield/Glen Ridge and Harrison, both appropriately named “Christ Church.”
The church subsequently moved from its initial site on Main Street along the river to its current location on Washington Street in 1908, and built the current structure in 1959.
The congregation adopted a mission statement, “Making a difference in the Belleville Community,” and lived out that mission through its outreach to the community run by the Jubilee Community Development Corporation, founded in 2000. In recent years, the crown jewels of Christ Church’s community ministry were The Mary & Martha Soup Kitchen, Investing–N-Kids, and the Care Closet. The mission of the Jubilee Center was to provide “a safe place for hot nutritious meals, personal and domestic hygiene products, and an atmosphere of emotional camaraderie to needy families and individuals experiencing financial challenges or psychological hardships.”
On Sunday, October 25, 2009, Christ Church held its final worship service in Belleville with its vicar, Paul Walker, and began worshipping with the community of St. Peter’s Church, Clifton the following Sunday, November 1. Much of the rich history and tradition of Christ Church is evident at St. Peter’s today, and its people and leadership play a significant role in the life and ministry of St. Peter’s.
Tribute to St. John’s, Union City
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Union City was formed in 1846, 15 years before the Town of West Hoboken (now known as Union City) was incorporated. The earliest services were held in McRae’s Silk Factory, and after the donation of two lots of land at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Warren Street, the cornerstone was laid for a church building in 1848.
As West Hoboken grew, so did St. John’s parish, and the parish building was relocated to the corner of Palisade Avenue and Charles Street (now, 16th Street) in 1901. Following the end of World War I, a parish house was built to accommodate the many outreach ministries and social activities that took place at St. John’s. The new parish hall included a gym, vestry office, Sunday School rooms, club rooms and even a men’s shower. During the Depression, the St. John’s Parish Pantry was well-known to all in the community.
With the rapid influx of many immigrant groups into Union City following World War II, St. John’s struggled to maintain its identity and its finances, as did many inner-city churches at that time.
Two years after the 1976 so-called “irregular” ordination of women in the Episcopal Church, Katrina Swanson, one of the “Philadelphia Eleven” was called by St. John’s to pursue her deep passion for social justice ministry. She led the vestry to begin a new ministry to the Hispanic community including an after-school program in 1986 called Puerta Abierta (“Open Door”) which is still operating today. The church also introduced the Spanish language into the Sunday Eucharist, and St. John’s became a bi-lingual parish.
Katrina Swanson was succeeded by “Father Steve” Giovangelo who took the parish’s ministry to the streets where they served coffee to commuters waiting for the morning bus. The Positive Connection AIDS empowerment group also found a home at St. John’s in 1999. St. John’s then called its second woman rector in 2001, Cooper Conway, who faithfully served the congregation until 2008. In 2008, Sister Bernadette Barrett was called as Priest-In-Charge. In recent years, the congregation supported a community theatre, an annual art show, a thrift shop, as well as the Puerta Abierta.
