Church Seeks To Repurpose Former Route 22 Office Site In Bridgewater

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Liquid Church is looking to repurpose an existing office building at 430 Route 22 East in Bridgewater into a house of worship.

The application was initially heard during the Tuesday Bridgewater Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing with testimony centered on the church’s operations, current footprint, and expected use of the site.

Attorney Nicholas Racioppi of Riker Danzig said the application seeks preliminary and final site plan approval, a conditional use variance and bulk variances.

"We are simply proposing to repurpose an existing office building to a house of worship," said Racioppi.

Racioppi also said, "Nothing is changing to the building. And no new construction is proposed other than a stair tower with about a footprint of about 185 square feet and some interior modifications."

Lead Pastor Tim Lucas testified that Liquid Church is a non-denominational Christian church founded in 2007, with its main campus or headquarters in Parsippany.

"We welcome folks from every spiritual background or none at all. We named our church Liquid because in the Bible, Jesus calls himself the living water. So, our philosophy is that church should be refreshing," said Lucas.

Lucas said the church was originally looking to use the former Johnson and Johnson building. However, on April 15, 2025, after speaking with township officials, they were directed to the Route 22 site.

"We just want to thank the officials for their guidance because without their help, I wouldn't be standing here before you tonight," said Lucas. "The site is already developed with a three-story existing building and parking lot. Our proposal is to use the existing building with some very minor modifications as a house of worship."

Lucas described the Route 22 location as "a great location in a corporate office park setting away from immediate residential adjacency."

He said the church expects about 90 percent of its activity to occur on Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and noon, with two services planned at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Services would run about 75 minutes, with roughly 45 minutes between them.

According to Lucas, the church expects around 500 adults in the main auditorium and about 100 children in classrooms during the 10:30 a.m. service.

He said the 8:30 a.m. service would draw about 300 adults and 60 children.

Lucas told the board the church currently has about 350 attendees meeting at Somerville High School and expects that congregation to move to the Bridgewater site if approved.

Lucas also said the church does not operate a daycare facility, school, restaurant or catering hall, and has no plans to start those uses at the property.

He said the weekday presence in Bridgewater would be smaller, with about 10 to 12 employees during the week, potential Bible studies, and a monthly youth group.

Board members asked whether Saturday services were planned.

"We have no plans for that at this time. None of our campuses have Saturday services," said Lucas.

He added that extra services may be added on holidays such as Easter and Christmas.

The application will continue Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. with testimony expected from the applicant’s engineer, traffic engineer, architect, and planner.

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