300th Anniversary Celebration Of South Jersey Church

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SALEM, NJ — St. John’s Episcopal Church in Salem commemorated the 300th anniversary of its founding on Sunday, nj.com reported.

In 1722, a small group of Salem residents asked the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in London for a minister, the church's website stated. Two years later, their request was granted.

"Occasional services" for Episcopalians were held in the Salem County Courthouse before the congregation's first church was built in 1728, according to the church's website.

Father Chuck Messer, who is the 33rd and present rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, told Patch although the early days of the congregation were not easy, they also provide some of the church's proudest moments.

"When John Fenwick and his colony established themselves in Salem in 1675, he described it as a land of milk and honey," Messer said. "However, the first rector of St John’s, the Reverend John Holbrooke, found it to be a place filled with mosquitoes and malaria, a leaky, chapel-like building, and no pay."

The Revolutionary War found many church members with clashing points of view that ultimately became one-sided, he said.

"The conflict of obligation to King George and the congregation’s sympathies towards rebellion came to a head when British soldiers rounded up parishioners who sided with the American Patriots and had them shot at Hancock’s Bridge," Messer added.

The subsequent wars that the United States appeared to have not had as dire consequences on the congregation's members, the church's website suggested.

A new church was built in 1838, an expansion to that building was completed in 1880 and renovation and restoration projects occurred in the 1950s and 1960s, according to the church website.

In the interview, Messer attributed the church's longevity to "God’s grace and the power of the love of Jesus Christ that has compelled the Episcopalians of Salem to continue proclaiming the Gospel and serving our neighbors."

He expressed hope that in the next 300 years, "those members of St John’s who come after us find us faithful to our Lord Jesus by loving our neighbor as ourselves [and] we continue to practice radical hospitality in our welcome of all God’s children, especially the poor."

Got a news tip? Story idea? Send me an email with the details at janel.miller@patch.com.