It would have been a routine Sunday morning anywhere else on the Jersey Shore, as families pulled wagons of beach gear across the sand, and children splashed in the surf, but in Ocean Grove, it was both historic and controversial.
Visitors to the seaside community in Monmouth County were able to walk from the boardwalk to the beach before noon, with chains and padlocked barriers removed, ending a 155-year-old tradition tied Ocean Grove’s Methodist roots that blocked access to the sand on Sunday mornings.
It was a Christian tradition loyally defended by some residents. But others objected to public displays of religion in the Ocean Grove section of Neptune Township, which includes a new $2 million pier built in the shape of a Christian cross.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association relented on beach access from the boardwalk after the state Department of Environmental Protection found last year that the Sunday morning restriction, in place between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, violated state law. It also told the association that it could be fined up to $25,000 per day if the Sunday restrictions continued.
The association continues to challenge the state decision in court, citing religious freedom and its 19th century origins as a Methodist community retreat.
Visitors on Sunday morning also were able to access nearly half of the new 500-foot Ocean Grove pier, which reopened last year. It had been closed since it was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.
However, the pier was closed in December, eight months after opening, due to structural concerns. A section extending 243 feet from the boardwalk was reopened Wednesday after getting clearance from the engineering firm investigating the pier’s condition, the association said.
The newer section over the water, which includes the cross imagery, remains off-limits.
Ocean Grove was governed by the camp meeting association as a religious enclave for a century until, after a series of lawsuits, the New Jersey Supreme Court declared its original charter unconstitutional. However, the association still owns all the land and helps oversee the boardwalk and beachfront community.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association has said that it never fully closed the beach. Rather, it blocked off nine “step entrances” — access points from the Ocean Grove Boardwalk onto the beach — on summer Sunday mornings. Visitors could still access the sand by walking along the high tide line from Asbury Park to the north or from Bradley Beach to the south.
The state Department of Environmental Protection said the Sunday restriction runs afoul of the state’s Coastal Area Facility Review Act.
A sign posted by the boardwalk Sunday morning explained the Camp Meeting Association’s position.
“We are currently compelled to comply with the NJDEP order to open the beach, but have not ceased nor abandoned our quest to protect our religious and property rights,” it read. “We continue to do ministry by providing opportunities for spiritual birth growth, and renewal through worship, education and cultural programs. As always we welcome all to join us in ‘God’s square mile.’”
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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
