New Jersey Ruling Could Reignite Battle Over Church-State Separation

From The New York Times-

The apex of the slate roof of the historic chapel of the Presbyterian Church in Morristown peeks over the trees lining the central green here, its chips and cracks visible from the ground. In need of repair, the church did what many other houses of worship in the area have done — turned for help to the county, which gave it more than $260,000 in 2013.

Since 2012, Morris County has provided more than $4.6 million to 12 churches in the form of historic preservation grants, a readily available source of money to fix facades, stained glass windows and aging roofs.

But a unanimous decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court found that public money could no longer be used by churches, citing a clause in the State Constitution expressly forbidding it, a decision that could reverberate beyond New Jersey and reignite a national debate over the separation of church and state.

The New Jersey decision last week came less than a year after the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in a case from Missouri that states must sometimes provide aid to religious groups even when their state constitutions prohibit the use of public funds for the benefit of houses of worship.

More here-

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/nyregion/new-jersey-ruling-could-reignite-battle-over-church-state-separation.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fnyregion&action=click&contentCollection=nyregion&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront

Trump's executive orders worry Glen Ridge, Bloomfield churches

From New Jersey-

The Rev. Diana Wilcox of Christ Episcopal Church in Glen Ridge and Bloomfield will serve as a diocesan liaison for Episcopal Migration Ministries, a ministry of the Episcopal Church that assists with refugee resettlement.

“It’s absolutely reprehensible,” Wilcox told the Glen Ridge Voice on Thursday, when asked about her thoughts on the executive orders.

She noted that Jesus and his family had been refugees at one point. Of the need to welcome refugees and immigrants, “It goes to the very core of who we are, as a people of faith,” she said. “That’s what America has been from the start.”

She also observed that refugees entering the United States have to go through a two-year vetting process by the State Department. “They’re the most vetted people in the country.”

More here-

http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/essex/glen-ridge/2017/01/27/trumps-executive-orders-worry-glen-ridge-bloomfield-churches/97058252/

Healing two years after a church tragedy

From New Jersey- (with video)

Thursday marked two years since a fatal fire took the life of a beloved Ocean City pastor, Reverend David Dingwall of the St. Paul's By The Sea Episcopal Church.

Ocean City Police say John Sterner, who frequented a food pantry in connection to the church known as Shepherd's Crook, doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire before walking into the pantry.

Bruce Young, a volunteer coordinator at Shepherd's Crook, says he was five feet away from Sterner.

"I was looking at John Sterner...didn't know who it was." He recalled Thursday.

The flames spread. It seriously injuring a volunteer and claimed the lives of Sterner and Reverend Dingwall.

Joe Fisher, a manager at Shepherd's Crook, credits Dingwall to much of the success of the food pantry.

More here-

http://www.wmdt.com/news/more-local-news/healing-two-years-after-a-church-tragedy/36673622

Calico Threads Thrift Store begins 3rd year of outreach

From New Jersey-

Memories of the destruction and loss caused by Superstorm Sandy three years ago remain embedded in the lives of many. And, the good will and outreach that sprang forth since the storm continues at Holy Trinity Church in South River where the Calico Threads thrift shop steadfastly meets the needs of those in crisis each day.

When the store first opened its doors at 54 Ferry St., large donations of clothing were offered to help ease the devastation from the storm. The church had lost electrical power when they began aiding the storm victims whose homes were flooded in South River.

According to Sandra Rahn, chairwoman of Calico Threads, parishioners delivered food and cleaning supplies with 80 to 90 meals delivered each night.

More here-

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/outreach/caring-communities/2015/09/30/calico-threads-south-river/32445047/

Young woman emerges from ‘troubled’ teens to become priest

From New Jersey-

Church was the one constant that Katie McCallister said she had growing up; however, becoming a priest came as a humble surprise.

On May 24, McCallister, 26, was ordained as a priest in her home parish, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in South River.

“It was very meaningful to be ordained in the church I grew up in,” she said. “The coolest thing is, although the ordination was about me, it really was not about me at all.”

McCallister explained that the congregants at Holy Trinity currently have an interim rector, and the search for a full-time rector has been ongoing for two years. Last month, the congregants were able to witness McCallister, a fixture in the church, enter priesthood.

The journey to priesthood hasn’t been straightforward. McCallister went to elementary school in Old Bridge and spent the rest of her time in South Amboy, graduating from South Amboy High School in 2005.

“I was a troubled teenager,” she said, adding that she had dabbled in alcohol and a few drugs around the time her parents divorced.

More here-

http://eb.gmnews.com/news/2014-06-19/Front_Page/Young_woman_emerges_from_troubled_teens_to_become_.html

Church keeps doors open on frigid nights

From New Jersey-

With a forecast calling for frigid temperatures this week, volunteers at a downtown church are preparing for an influx of the city’s homeless looking to escape the cold.

As part of the Code Blue initiative the city adopted this month, Trinity Episcopal Church opened its doors at 5 p.m. Saturday for the local homeless population.

In the coming days, when the National Weather Service predicts temperatures will drop to the low 20s and single digits following a heavy snowstorm today, homeless residents will need shelter.

“We’re calling everybody, getting dinners and clothes prepared, scheduling people to work shifts,” volunteer Susan Jessat said of the church’s preparation for the days ahead. The church is looking for more donations in the way of nonperishable food and clothing, she said.

More here-

http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/20140121/NEWS01/301210011

St. James' Episcopal Church continues Summer Backpack Program

From New Jersey-

School is out and the sound of children’s boisterous fun fills our neighborhoods. You may not notice another sound that begins as a rumble and then moves to a loud growl. This is the sound of a hungry child.

Throughout the school year, hungry children are supported by school-based programs. When school is out for the summer, parents need to stretch their already strained budgets to feed their children for the long summer days. St. James’ Episcopal Church in Hackettstown has been filling this gap for families in the greater Hackettstown area for the past five years. Each year, they provide large bags of food to hungry children every two weeks throughout the summer. United Way of Northern New Jersey has been a faithful partner in this mission, providing major funding for the Summer Backpack Program.

The United Way and St. James’ have collected and raised enough food – last summer over $26,000 worth - to meet the needs of our area’s children. With continued economic pressure, the program grew to serving 270 children as many formerly middle class families could not make ends meet. St. James’ champions food-raising, last year collecting $12,000 worth of food. The United Way of Northern New Jersey supplied the funding for the rest of the budget.

More here-

http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2013/05/st_james_episcopal_church_cont.html

In New Jersey, a Resignation, Then a Search for Redemption

From The New York Times-

Maybe it’s the shallow, overly friendly filmmaking, or maybe it’s some kind of former politician’s curse, but “Fall to Grace,” a documentary about what James E. McGreevey has been doing since resigning the New Jersey governorship in 2004, never feels as if it got to the core of the man.

The film, Thursday night on HBO, shows us Mr. McGreevey as he studies for the Episcopal priesthood and works with female inmates in Hudson County, N.J., who are struggling with substance abuse. It lets him talk about his new life and the process of finding his way to it. Yet statements that ought to sound earnest and heartfelt — “I feel like I am called to help these women” — sound instead as if he were trying to convince us. The way a politician might try to convince us that he’s pro-environment or anti-taxes.

Mr. McGreevey, of course, resigned in August 2004 after acknowledging that he was gay, an admission that he said was forced by a former male aide’s threats. His divorce from his wife, Dina Matos, was tabloid fodder.

http://tv.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/arts/television/fall-to-grace-about-james-e-mcgreevey-on-hbo.html?_r=0

Opinion: N.J. houses of worship damaged in Hurricane Sandy should be eligible for FEMA aid

From New Jersey-

Superstorm Sandy caused close to $37 billion in damages in New Jersey. For days and weeks afterward, churches, synagogues, mosques and temples in New Jersey that were spared serious damage opened their doors to those left homeless by the storm. Their congregations did not ask those who were stranded about their religious affiliation.

They did not deny people food and shelter because they were not among their congregants.

Now, more than a dozen New Jersey houses of worship are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs and rebuilding costs. The extensive damage ranges from flooded sanctuaries to stripped rooftops and toppled steeples. Some suffered a total loss, such as the Episcopal St. Elisabeth’s Chapel-by-the-Sea, in Ortley Beach, that was swept into the ocean.

FEMA has approved more than $780 million in disaster assistance to individuals, households, businesses, communities and nonprofit organizations in New Jersey since Sandy, but nothing for houses of worship.

More here-

http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2013/03/opinion_nj_houses_of_worship_d.html

Somerset churches opening their doors for gun buyback program

From New Jersey-

Members of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens know about the culture of gun violence.

Several families have held funerals at the Franklin Township church for young people killed by guns and gang activity is prevalent in the surrounding region, making it difficult to both attract businesses to the neighborhood and encourage people to visit the church at night, the senior pastor said.

But when the church opens its doors early next month as part of Somerset County’s gun buyback program, the Rev. Dr. DeForest B. Soaries Jr., said it will be sending the message that “we are participants in trying to solve the problem, rather than victims of the problem itself.”

(snip)

In addition to the First Baptist Church, people will be able to turn in their weapons for cash at the Community Baptist Church in North Plainfield and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Somerville. The Community Service Center in Bernards Township will serve as a drop-off location as well.
http://www.nj.com/somerset/index.ssf/2013/03/churches_opening_their_doors_t.html

Gun buyback program coming to Morris County in March

From New Jersey-

Got guns? Want to get rid of them?

Morris County will host a two-day gun buyback program in March.

Participants will trade cash for guns from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 15 at Saint Paul Inside the Walls at 205 Madison Ave. in Madison, and during the same hours March 16 at Saint Peter's Episcopal Church at 70 Maple Ave. in Morristown.

The guns will be purchased on a walk-in basis and with no questions asked. Guns should be submitted unloaded and either wrapped in paper, tied with string or tape, or transported in a box or container.

Participants won't be compensated for more than three weapons, and law enforcement officers and licensed firearms dealers aren't eligible for the program.

More here-

http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2013/03/gun_buyback_program_coming_to.html

Christmas hope: Churches offer faith to those battered by Hurricane Sandy, Connecticut shootings

From New Jersey-

There are those battered by Hurricane Sandy, others saddened by the tragedy in Connecticut, questioning life and, perhaps, faith.

But the weary are called to rejoice, as the Rev. Canon Sandye A. Wilson puts it. Christians are called to celebrate — to find peace — in a seemingly broken world. Her followers see it around them.

It’s "a world desperate for love," said Joann Douds, who has worshipped at the Episcopal Church of St. Andrew & Holy Communion in South Orange since Wilson started preaching there. She was helping prepare decorations there yesterday as a choir practiced holiday hymns.

"There is violence on the streets," Douds said. "There is despair amongst the people."

And that’s why Christmas is such a perfect time to find hope, says Wilson, the church’s rector.

More here-

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/12/christmas_hope_churches_offer.html

Morristown churches come together to feed people still affected by Sandy

From New Jersey-

It was a road trip, of sorts.

Volunteers from St. Margaret’s Church on Sussex Avenue traveled around the Morristown Green on Tuesday, to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on South Street. They took a turn serving dinner to residents who still are without power in the wake of last month’s Hurricane Sandy.

St. Peter’s began serving these meals on Nov. 2.  Morristown police convened a meeting of area clergy this week, and a number of churches have offered to join the effort at St. Peter’s, which features a large hall and a modern kitchen, named for late parishioner Leni Muscarella.

“We’re very happy to do it,” said the Rev. Hernan Arias, pastor of the Catholic congregation at St. Margaret’s, and an alumnus of Morristown High School. “St. Margaret’s is not just a little church where we gather to do prayers. We also reach out. As Christians, we are to share in the pain and suffering and difficulties of people. This is what it means to be a Christian.”

More here-

http://morristowngreen.com/2012/11/07/morristown-churches-come-together-to-feed-people-still-affected-by-sandy/

Presbyterian court clears pastor wed in same-sex ceremony

From New Jersey-

The top court of the Louisville-based Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has cleared a New Jersey pastor of charges that she violated church law by getting married to another woman in Massachusetts.

The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission ruled Oct. 28 that the Rev. Laurie McNeill didn’t violate any church law because she didn’t preside over a same-sex wedding but rather was one of those exchanging the vows, and because no Presbyterian clergy or churches were involved.

McNeill, and Lisa Lynn Gollihue got married in 2009 in Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal. The ceremony took place in an Episcopal Church on Cape Cod and was presided over by ministers from the Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ. New Jersey allows same-sex couples to have civil unions but not marriages.

The Presbyterian constitution defines marriage as between one man and one woman — although that definition has come under challenge in a denomination that has already began officially allowing the ordination of openly gay ministers — and it forbids Presbyterian ministers for presiding over such ceremonies and the use of Presbyterian churches in hosting them. The church does allow blessings of same-sex relationships as long as they aren’t represented as wedding ceremonies.

More here

http://blogs.courier-journal.com/faith/2012/11/02/presbyterian-court-clears-pastor-wed-in-same-sex-ceremony/

Old church records tell historic tale -- with rum

From New Jersey-

The year was 1769 and a group of Anglicans was forming its own church in the 14-year-old county of Sussex.

Their first purchase was to have tickets printed up for a lottery, their way of raising money to support the new church.

Their fourth purchase was 1 pound, 3 shillings paid to Henry Hairlocker for entertainment for a "frolic," the Colonial equivalent of a party. The notation doesn't specify what the entertainment was to be except to note "including one gallon and a half of rum."

The minutes of that first meeting were among a bundle of documents "lost" in plain sight at Christ Church on Main Street that were discovered by the Rev. Robert T. Griner, the church's rector, when he was looking for something else about two years ago.

In the church office is a large safe that held some of the older records of the church. The safe backs against a wall that had a counter with doors and drawers under it and several cabinets above them.

Griner re-created the discovery last week as he climbed onto a chair he had pulled from a nearby office, and opened the door.

More here-

http://www.njherald.com/story/19814207/old-church-records-tell-historic-tale-with-rum

Local church participates in the Appalachia Service Project in West Virginia

From New Jersey-

Twenty-two local teenagers and 12 adult volunteers have recently returned from a week in West Virginia where they worked to help restore homes that were in need of repair. The group, most of whom are members of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Bridgewater, joined with teens from St. Mark’s church in Basking Ridge to be part of the volunteer program, Appalachia Service Project.

The program is a Christian home repair ministry focused on helping make the homes of needy families in Appalachia warmer, safer and dryer. The group replaced walls and floors in houses that had been made uninhabitable by floods while others worked on replacing a roof, redoing siding, removing carpeting and replacing a rotting floor.

More here-

http://www.nj.com/messenger-gazette/index.ssf/2012/07/local_church_participates_in_the_appalachia_service_project_in_west_virginia.html

Cameroon orphanage founder to speak at Redeemer, Morristown

From New Jersey-

Sister Jane Mankaa, founder of the Good Shepherd Home in Cameroon, will preach at the 8 and 10:30 a.m. services and lead the 9 a.m. adult forum on Sunday at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, 36 South St., Morristown.

Mankaa will speak about the orphanage, which houses more than 100 children and serves many more in the larger community, and will share her plans to create a clinic to address the health needs of the children in the village. The clinic will be named after a deceased parishioner, Roberto Rovere, who was one of the first at Redeemer to support its partnership with the Good Shepherd Home.

The Good Shepherd Home for Children is located in the North West Province of Cameroon, an area in West Africa where an estimated 50,000 children are orphaned. Sr. Jane never turns a child away, and no child is placed for adoption. The children live in a loving family environment with a hundred brothers and sisters.

More here-

http://morristowngreen.com/2012/04/13/cameroon-orphanage-founder-to-speak-at-redeemer-morristown/

Flood doesn't dampen spirits at Trinity Episcopal Church

From New Jersey-

Trinity Episcopal Church’s restoration project wasn't done in vain, even though it might have looked that way after Hurricane Irene swept through and destroyed some of the recently-finished work.

The Siano Brothers Contracting firm of Cranford deconstructed the original church building in 2008 and then by the end of 2010, had rebuilt the structure back to how it looked when it was first built in 1875. The firm was able to salvage some parts of the original structure and restore it, such as the church’s organ.

The organ was dismantled and removed to be refurbished and repaired. Then it was re-installed, taking four weeks, near the end of the reconstruction project in October of 2010.

Trinity Episcopal paid for the restoration project with a capital campaign it started in 2007. The church then sold a lot it owned on Arlington Road for $300,000, using the proceeds for the rebuilding fund.

More here-

http://www.nj.com/cranford/index.ssf/2012/02/flood_doesnt_dampen_spirits_at.html

St. Thomas Episcopal Church youth ministry serve the homeless

From New Jersey-

Outreach ministry is a vital part of the mission of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Alexandria Township. Each year, members of the Junior and Senior Youth Group participate in a winter “lock-in” rising at dawn to make hundreds of hoagie sandwiches for super bowl Sunday and raise money for outreach projects. This year nearly $800 was raised, some of which has been earmarked for St. Thomas’ participation again in Bridges Outreach. As part of the project, children in the parish will prepare 200 bag lunches and the high school youth will deliver them to the homeless in Newark and Irvington on March 17.

http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2012/02/st_thomas_episcopal_church_you.html

Episcopal priests reach out to commuters with "ashes to go"

From New Jersey-

About 20 Episcopal priests fanned out throughout North Jersey and stationed themselves at commuter train stations, bus stops and coffee shops as part of Ash Wednesday services.

The movement — called Ashes to Go — started with Episcopal parishes in St. Louis, Mo., and spread to Chicago suburbs before becoming a nationwide event. This is the first year that priests from the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, which includes parishes in Bergen and Passaic counties, participated.

"We wanted to go to the people rather than have the people go to church," said the Rev. Peter DeFranco, the rector at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Clifton.

Some Christians mark the beginning of Lent, the late-winter fast before Easter, with ashes applied to their foreheads in the form of a cross by a priest.

More here-

http://www.northjersey.com/news/140113473_MASS_TRANSIT.html