Blogfinger

Nancy Ann Gillan replaces Michael Badger as Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association President. Photo distributed on 10/26/23 by the CMA.

By  Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor.      Blogfinger.net.  We did not receive this information from the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association .  It was forwarded to us by someone on the CMA mailing list.

This  2023  email  was to announce  the new OGCMA  President: Nancy Ann Gillan.

The incoming President sent “greetings to the faithful supporters of the OGCMA community and friends.”

And in the email she “shares her thoughts below:”

“The opportunity to serve all of you and the trust my fellow board members have placed in me as President of  this 154-year ministry fills me with gratitude. As a trustee since 2005 I have held many positions including Treasurer and six years as Program Chair. I am blessed with a long legacy in Ocean Grove. My grandfather first came to Ocean Grove as a boy and later became a trustee. My father, Jim Truitt, served six years as OGCMA President.

“However, I do not look back, but forward to all God has planned for us.

“He says, ‘Behold, I am doing a new thing (Isaiah 43:19.) ‘”    

“I believe the best is yet to come as we live into our mission of  spiritual birth, growth, and renewal and find new ways to reach more people as we proclaim the theme of Jesus.”

Blogfinger Editor’s note:   2024. BF post.  This is not a policy statement as President Gillan is addressing and “greeting the CMA’s faithful supporters.”

We wonder about a number of issues where the activities of the CMA have impacted  those in town who belong to the residential secular community.  Will she institute some changes?

President  Gillan is taking over for President Michael Badger, but we don’t know if she will support his recent public statements about a number of “hot” concerns.

And  will she interact with the public and the press as he has previously done in such a forceful way?

President Gillan will be answering to the CMA Board,  and will the Board take this opportunity to make some changes in their policies as they impact the town of Ocean Grove?

The next challenge will be in April 2024  when the CMA meets the DEP in court over Sunday beach closures.   Here is a link about that:

CMA vs DEP over beach closures

We understand that Ms. Gillan spends her winters in Florida, so how will that influence the CMA’s operations?

We also note that the CMA’s  new COO  was appointed August 2023.   She is Mrs. Natalie Stephens-Stewart.  She is not new to the organization having worked for 6 years as Program Director.

COO Natalie Stephens-Stewart. Internet photo.

2026 update by Paul Goldfinger, MD.  Blogfinger.net.      The CMA undoubtedly is an important entity in the Grove. Their impact goes back to the 1869 founding, and the tenure of former President Michael Badger is still fresh in our minds because he was always willing to face CMA issues publicly.  But since he left in 2023, there is a void in terms of what “we-the-people” can expect from the CMA other than to read about them, such as the recent press updates about beach closures.   Now, 2026, we know that there will be no more Sunday closures. The DEP has made a”final” ruling.

If you read the CMA’s Summer Guide, you will see that their programs are as active as ever, and those programs, as before, continue to dominate life in the Grove.  But as far as reaching out to the largest demographic here–the secular community who are citizens, they seem to be of little interest to the CMA which  attracts mostly religious tourists, although there is no data that we know of about CMA demographics.

And there are other groups in town who who have previously created divisiveness and/or apathy including the Neptune Comedy, the Chamber of Commercials and Street Closures, the New Residents from out of town  with second homes but no interest in the town,  most renters,  and  year-round citizens  such as the former Homeowners Association who now have a new name and  little else to help  OG find it’s future self.   And finally there is the Coaster which has less and less to report  about the Grove. They don’t even recognize our bartenders and servers.

As for Pres. Gillan, it seems clear that she won’t be reaching out to the secular  town like Pres. Badger did. Her themes can be found in the hymn below and  in the latest Program Guide (2026 is not out yet) which as we know usually contains many wonderful components which we all can enjoy along with the many religious tourists who come here–The Guide  should be out soon.

The CMA has stopped their Labor Day public outreach, so hopefully we will hear from her in the future, or at least offer the press information.

Here is an authentic recording from the historic wax cylinders  of over 100 years ago from the Great Auditorium by Steven Porter.  The Grammy winning album is “Waxing the Gospels.”  And the hymn is “Yield Not to Temptation.”

Here is some modern music:    Norah Jones: