Has Church Of Grace & Peace Been Sold? No, Pastor Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Pastor Walter Healy has heard the whispers for months. He's been asked directly, too. "Is the Church of Grace and Peace for sale?"

His reply: No.

"We have never been approached by any group regarding the sale of the church property," Healy, the founding pastor of the Toms River church, said Friday morning. "Nor do we have any desire to sell our property."

"There is absolutely no basis of truth in the rumor," Healy said.

The rumors, of course, have arisen in part because of the church's location: a prime piece of land on Old Freehold Road in the township's North Dover section, just north of where the Garden State Parkway passes through.

It's in the area that has turned into a battleground of sorts, where real estate soliticiting was banned last year for five years by the Toms River Township Council in the wake of repeated complaints from residents about harassment from real estate agents, many of whom represented ultra-Orthodox Jewish clients.

It is an area where suspicions run as high as emotions, and every action is scrutinized for a motive.

Because the Church of Grace and Peace sits in such a prime location, within walking distance to homes, some of which have been purchased by ultra-Orthodox families, the rumors have been rampant, Healy said. And he's heard them all.

And every time, he said, his answer has been the same: The 7.5-acre property, which the church has stood for 20 years, is not for sale.

"We have had this inquiry several times from prominent citizens," he said Friday. "We have addressed it from the pulpit more than once."

"We have never been approached by any group, Jewish or not," Healy said.

There have been inquiries, but no actual offers.

"No one has ever approached us for purposes of purchasing property," he said. "Nor do we have any desire to sell."

"Perhaps this will help to quell the rumor," Healy said.

Photo of the Church of Grace And Peace via Google Maps