December Missions Emphasis
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December Missions Emphasis – St John UMC, Bridgeton, NJ
The Missions emphasis for December will support St. John United Methodist Church
St. John UMC, Bridgeton, NJ, is designated as an Historic Native American Methodist Church, the only church with such designation in the state of New Jersey and is the fifth oldest Native American Methodist Church in the nation. It is the home church to many members of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation. The church building has been described as a “place of meeting for tribal affairs when none were available or allowed and a place of ministry to help the spiritual and physical needs of those in need.”
St. John UMC is grateful for financial support of their programs and the people of the community. Visitors are warmly welcomed.
A brief history of St. John UMC:
St. John United Methodist Church (Fordville) Fordville, New Jersey
Methodism came to the Bridgeton area of NJ through itinerant preachers. In 1799 Rev. Michael Swing visited the area. To some he is the “father” of Methodism in this region. In the intervening years, the Old Stone Church in Fairton was a start. Then, the locally known Swing’s Meeting House. Under Rev. Reuben Cuff, a meetinghouse in Gouldtown. Various other buildings served as school, meeting house, or church for local Methodist societies.
Rev. Peter Schureman dedicated the Lummis School, moved from Gouldtown, renaming it Ebenezer. However in 1841 the church split as a group, including founding members Jacob Pierce, Adrian Pierce, Freeman Pierce, Hosea Pierce and the families and followers who sought another path, an ethnic path to maintain their ethnic, native roots. It took a while but with God’s help this group built their first building, a one-room log cabin, which served both as schoolhouse and meetinghouse; named The Piercetown School and Meetinghouse.
In 1861 the church began plans to build a church which became St. John Methodist Episcopal Church, incorporated in 1863 as the Methodist Episcopal Church of Fordville. It was finally dedicated in1865.
Much of the history is lost, except in some oral form. One thing certain, St. John was strongly connected to a remnant of the Lenni Lenape Community (also known as Tribe) in the Delaware Bay region. The building served as meeting house and school when no other was available to the Tribe. Improvements and additions were made in the ensuing years. Then in 2001 a small fire in the parish hall–a quickly contained fire-revealed major and extensive structural deterioration. The building was condemned and torn down. In May 2013 a new all purpose building was dedicated.
Native American heritage permeates the weekly service of worship. From prayers, to songs, to the youth drumming and dancing during a worship, the heritage is present. On the fifth Sunday worship is described as “total immersion.” St. John is a welcoming and diverse church to compliment this Lenni Lenape heritage.
Over the years many trials and tribulations were met with the power of faith. A lawsuit emanating from the split, economic hardship, isolation as a native American congregation, death of a pastor (Rev. Richard Wilson while preaching), and in 1938 categorized as African-American and transferred to the Central Jurisdiction, Delaware Conference. Yet faith saw them through to this day.
https://www.gnjumc.org/content/uploads/2017/10/St.-John-HistSite539.pdf
