Outside the Tabernacle in Ocean Grove, near the Great Auditorium. Sunday morning, 6/27/21. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click once to get closer. Blogfinger.net.
Back in the days of Rev. Stokes, Sundays were reserved for prayer and rest. Ocean Grove residents were forbidden all sorts of activities including exercise. But, as we have noted, the rules of the Camp Meeting Association have softened over the years.
It was about 9:30 am, a lovely June Sunday morning in Auditorium Park. Very few people were around. You could hear the choir rehearsing with the Hope Jones organ, and a few ushers were showing in up in their navy sport jackets, white pants and white carnation.
Over at the tents, only a few tenters were visible.
At the boardwalk there was a boisterous service going on in the Pavilion. They would be over in time for the service in the Great Auditorium at 10:30 am.
But as I approached the Bishop Janes Tabernacle I spotted a leg heading skyward (see photo above.)
As I walked by, I saw a very fit woman exercising. She was wearing tight shorts, a top and a bare midriff. It seemed peculiar that she would work out at a Sunday morning near the GA.
But then again, Ocean Grove demographics and rules-of-the-road have been changing. And over time, recently, it’s been unpredictable in the Grove.
A yoga instructor works out near Stokes’ statue. 2021. Paul Goldfinger photo.
COUNTERPOINT