Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor Blogfinger.net
Most people in this town understand that the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association is not a church, although many, especially outsiders, refer to it that way.
Most churches in America have less than 100 parishioners, and if you grew up in a small town, you would recognize a church if you saw one. Small town churches, like St. Paul’s in Ocean Grove, concern themselves with encouraging their members to follow the tenets of their religion, and their usual activities include charity, hosting the boy scouts and girl scouts, counseling the confused and troubled, and helping the poor, sick, hungry, disabled, and house-bound. They have religious services and sermons on Sunday and they promote good in their towns. They also offer small-town events such as pie contests and sales, small carnivals, fund raisers, and choir concerts.
But the CMA is something different. They have a multi-million dollar budget and they encourage many religious tourists to come into town and experience their programs. They promote their efforts with professional marketing techniques. And they ask the residents and visitors for money to help pay for their financial needs.
We know what they do. Just read their “Ocean Grove 2021 Summer Program Guide.” But why do they do it and why is their “mission” on such a grand scale—and growing rapidly?
Why is it so important for them to raise large sums of money to bring outsiders into town for sermons, education, children and teen programs, live Christian music, and a wide variety of special summer programs? They used to offer some secular programming , but much of that has been eliminated.
Recently there was a suit at the N.J. Tax Court where Neptune Township wanted to discontinue the 2017 and 2018 property tax exemptions for the CMA offices at Pitman Avenue and at their hotel Grove Hall. The CMA (Plaintiff) sued twice. We have some of those court papers, and the quotes below are from those sources.
The arguments on both sides are interesting and compelling, and Neptune lost the office case, but they will appeal the Grove Hall case. These clashes suggest that the relationship between the CMA and the Township isn’t always peaches and cream.
However, during the court proceedings, the CMA had a lot of explaining to do, and we will share some of that with you since the CMA rarely reaches out to the public to share their view points.
From the court papers: Looking back to the founding of Ocean Grove, “Methodist clergymen bought 260 acres of land near the ocean in Ocean Grove to establish camp meeting grounds in 1869. The clergymen incorporated as the “Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church,” and they retained title to all the lands and sold leaseholds for 99 years, renewable in perpetuity, at a fixed sum down and a stated annual ground rental to the residents.”
“The CMA’s purpose was that of providing and maintaining for the members and friends of the Methodist Episcopal Church a proper, convenient and desirable permanent camp meeting ground and Christian seaside resort.”
Also their “program committee” was “responsible for organizing religious services and meetings for residents.” (BF italics)
And there were provisions for implementing “financial programs” to provide funds. And they were to “purchase, hold, and/or sell real property.”
The court papers go into great detail regarding the finances of the CMA as they considered whether the CMA should be given tax exemptions as noted. The CMA CFO said that “all revenues are used to further plaintiff’s mission and for operating expenses.”
But, despite describing their programs in general terms, nowhere do they explain their “mission” so that those who live in this town can understand their huge religious efforts.
Are they proselytizers? What is the goal of the tremendous summer efforts exerted by the CMA? They use euphemisms when they refer to “religious purposes.” After all, they do say that they are not a church.
During the court proceedings, Neptune Twp would not even acknowledge that the CMA is “a religious institution or a church, but an independent affiliate, which exists and operates without any control by or direction from the United Methodist Church or any other Higher Order. Therefore the Township contends that the CMA is not organized for any specific tax exempt purpose.”
The Court said that “the CMA continues to adhere to its original purpose of providing and maintaining for the members and friends of the Methodist beliefs and Christian faith, a permanent camp meeting ground to encourage, foster, maintain and renew a religious and spiritual way of life.”
So that, in a nutshell, explains the CMA of today, essentially unchanged from the written word of 150 years ago, but nowhere is it written that the CMA should bring huge numbers of tourists into our small town in order to accomplish their religious goals.
Those goals should not be used to justify smothering our town which contains thousands of secular residents and visitors.
Those of you who pay taxes in Ocean Grove (including renters) can judge for yourselves if you think that the Grove is being exploited for religious purposes.
From The Greatest Movie Themes:
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting should be made by the state to relinquish control of the boardwalk and the beaches and all
homes and businesses.
The only thing the Camp Meeting should own Is the land under Thornley Chapel, the Bishop Janes Tabernacle, the Great Auditorium, the Youth Temple , the Auditorium Pavilion, the land under the 114 tents, the hotel the Ocean Grove CMA owns, and the Camp Meeting offices. And the Boardwalk Pavilion.
All the rest of the land should be owned by the people .
This theocracy of the OGCMA needs to be dissolved. The separation of church and state lines are very blurry in Ocean Grove which is no longer a town.
So James, this huge effort which clogs the Grove all season is merely about “thousands of people” coming here to pray and sing hymns? If you read their summer booklet, you will see that it is much more than that, and thus the people of Ocean Grove must take notice. Their lifestyles are at stake.
Mr. Howes. You seem to think that the CMA has been unchanged over the years, but that is not true. Gibbon’s history of the Grove published in 1939 points out that there were many challenges to the CMA from their “neighbors” and “many times from residents and land lessees of the town who voiced their objections to the local rules, to the tax situation, or to the form of government.”
He said that, “No fewer that six attempts have been made to have OG set up as a borough, and one did succeed for awhile in 1925.”
And he said, “Through the 70 years of the resort’s history, there have been many threats to break down the Sunday bars. The court records of this state, especially those in the quarter century that started with 1900–bear mute testimony to the fact that Ocean Grove’s intrinsic character has not been maintained without a fight.”
You seem to have no idea about changes that have occurred in town since 1900 and which continue to now.
After 1900 the demographics changed remarkably. And the CMA fought with some resident groups and with Neptune, sometimes in court, as today.
In 1980 the CMA lost control of governance, obviously a huge change, and in the 1990’s secular groups in town, especially the HOA, saved the town from devastation and brought it back, enabling the CMA to continue its growth which has been considerable all through the 20th century.
In the last 20 years there has been an influx of secular residents, and particularly in the last 10 years. All along, the CMA has continually grown with its local religious programming, and we have seen that especially in the last 5 years, and these changes affect everyone who lives here. So there is no surprise that some residents now want to reassess the status and future of this evolving town.
The Camp Meeting Association bought the vacant land in 1869 and built an 8,000-seat auditorium in 1894 for the purpose of attracting thousands of people to worship together, praise the Lord, and sing hymns all summer long in a camp setting. You’re just discovering this?
The first lot map of Ocean Grove (1870) states its two-fold objects: “To hold camp-meetings of an elevated character—and to furnish to Christian families a sea-side resort free from the deleterious influences of fashionable watering places.” This item was used as a sales brochure.
The other parts of the Township pay taxes as we do, but none of them are subjected to the huge crowds of tourists that come here for religious reasons.
Sure we have a beach, so beaching is fine and will bring some crowds, but not enough to complain about. Beach crowds are understood at all shore towns.
But they do not have the giant events we have here. Bradley had one giant event, and that was shut down.
Whatever happened to the separation of church and state? The small town of Ocean Grove should be treated like other shore towns around here and allowed to breath the sea air without tourist mobs throughout the prime season here.