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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2002
WORSHIP in New Jersey is as various as the population itself,
ranging from the guttural chants of the Greek Orthodoxy to the
carefully accented English of the Episcopalians; from the enthusiastic disorder of revival meetings to the heavy dignity of urban churches; from
crossroads houses of God to massive cathedrals.
In the city areas religious interest has become mainly a matter of Sunday observance; seemingly the church exerts a diminishing influence over
its members' private lives. To attract the individual's time and support, a
number of denominations in New Jersey, as elsewhere, have developed
forums, athletics, and entertainments similar to those of civic, fraternal
and labor organizations.
In smaller communities, especially those of the rural south and the residential north, the church has preserved an important measure of prestige
and control. It remains strong enough in many small towns to enforce local
Blue Laws; ministers in certain communities may reprove publicly women
who smoke and men who drink. Frequently the churches continue to be
the principal charitable and social welfare agencies.
Historically New Jersey has a reputation for ecclesiastical tolerance and
liberalism. It was one of the four original Colonies that successfully resisted attempts of the Church of England to create an established church.
The several individual churches, however, achieved a local hegemony no
less stringent than that of an official church. Despite the brave statement
entered into the records of West New Jersey in 1676 that "No men, nor
number of men upon earth, hath power or authority to rule over men's
consciences in religious matters," the separate churches remained until
well after the Civil War jealous institutions that would brook no other
loyalties.
Early Dutch immigrants established in 1662 at Bergen (now Jersey City
Heights) the first duly instituted church in the Colony, the Bergen Reformed Church of the Dutch Reformed denomination under the jurisdiction of the Classis of Amsterdam. This denomination, however, was hampered in its growth after 1664, when the English conquest of New Jersey
carried with it the adoption of English forms of faith.
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