Livingston Buys Historic Church Property, Monks Make Pitch For Buddhist Temple

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Livingston town officials closed a deal to buy a property with a historic church building and cemetery earlier this week, although some people had questions about why the site won’t become a Buddhist temple.

The town council signed documents to finalize the purchase of the Federated Church of Livingston at their meeting on Tuesday.

The Federated Church of Livingston was built in 1853, and serves as the burial ground for some members of the town’s founding families. The property will be preserved and is “intended for public use,” officials said.

The town council approved the purchase at their May 11 meeting. View the purchase agreement here.

Councilman Michael Vieira said he was “delighted” the town is buying the property.

“The good thing is, we’ve kept this out of the developers’ hands,” Vieira said. “There will not be a three-story building on that site.”

“There will possibly be something… maybe the arts council… a park… something that the town can use,” he said. “There will not be an apartment building or anything else.”

Mayor Shawn Klein also said the purchase is a good deal for Livingston.

“I remember when I came on to the council 12 years ago – I remember vividly thinking to myself that church, that property, was the most important property in the town,” Klein said.

Watch footage from the May 11 meeting here (video is cued to the ordinance vote at the 34:33 mark).

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BUDDHIST TEMPLE

The discussion continued at the town council meeting on May 26 after the council authorized the sale contract in a separate vote.

Several Buddhist monks spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, asking the council why they felt the need to buy the property – and also making a pitch to turn it into a local house of worship.

One speaker said the American Association of Buddhist Education – which is currently located in Rancocas – entered discussions with the property owner last year, and signed a contract in October 2025. However, while waiting for the sale to be finalized, they learned that the town sent a letter to the owner about potentially using eminent domain to buy the site.

Things got more complicated from that point on, he said.

Other monks spoke afterwards, each saying that the proposed temple would respect the historic nature of the property and would be good neighbors to the community.

Although the ship has likely sailed – the council had already approved the contract by the time the monks made their plea – several members of the dais emphasized that a Buddhist temple is welcome in Livingston.

“I'm certain I'm speaking for the entire council when I say this,” Klein said. “One of the great strengths of Livingston, which we pronounce over and over again, is the diversity of people who live here who are welcomed by the town to be here. And we certainly don't feel in any way that having a Buddhist temple in town would be perceived as anything other than a wonderful thing to have.”

“Our interest in the property had absolutely nothing to do with stopping the Buddhist church or anything about the Buddhist church,” Township Manager Barry Lewis said.

Township Attorney Jarrid Kantor said when the township found out that the property was for sale, “we went after it” and engaged the broker.

“We did send a letter out expressing our desire that we would contemplate eminent domain – but we did not use eminent domain,” Kantor said. “We have a private sale. That contract was executed today – we had the ordinance authorizing it.”

Watch footage from the May 26 meeting here (video is cued to public comment at the 52:16 mark):

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