Middlebush Reformed Church, known as "the church with the red doors", is located at 1 South Middlebush Road at the corner of Amwell Road in the Middlebush section of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.Directory of churches in New Jersey, Volumes 14-21, New Jersey Historical Records Survey Project, 1941. It is the fourth oldest church in Franklin Township. It was organized in 1834, and the New York Times noted their first church was built in Colonial times and was one of the landmarks of the region."Lightning Destroys Historical Church", New York Times, 4 July 1917. The church is a contributing property of the Middlebush Village Historic District that was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 24, 2007.
The church is a part of the Reformed Church in America.
History It was organized by Dutch settlers on March 19, 1834 in the Colonial Farms area of what is now Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. The initial three member committee included the first Reverend of the church Jacob Schultz. The settlers had "migrated from Manhattan Island seeking more tillable land".Words from Wes: Through Tradition into Mission at Middlebush Reformed Church Reformed Church Press, 23 March 2009. Residents were previously traveling to Reformed churches in Hillsborough, New Jersey; Franklin Park, New Jersey; or New Brunswick. The few Dutch families initially met in a barn "in what is now O'Connor's Beef 'N Chowder House on Amwell Road" owned by the Voorhees family. One descendant, Mary Amanda Voorhees, "Miss Amanda", later served as the church's organist for forty-five years. "[S]ervices continued there until 1835, when the white frame church was completed". Jacob I. Schultz (1792-1852), the pastor at Whitehouse Station, New Jersey and Lebanon, New Jersey was contacted. The new church building was dedicated on February 19, 1835. The final cost was $3,989. Schultz was formally installed as pastor on December 30, 1835.
Lightning destroyed the church building on July 2, 1917, the New York Times noted part of the furniture was saved and the loss was estimated at $50,000. Congregation members who lived nearby rescued furniture and the church membership book. A kerosene lamp was saved, and is currently hanging in the church. Planning for the new building at the same site started immediately but construction was delayed by World War I. The Gothic Revival building was rebuilt using stone from the Martinsville, New Jersey quarry. The church was rededicated in 1919.
In 1972 the church set up a "mini" school.
In 2003 the church started a living nativity which includes four readings from the Bible and ends with the adoration of the magi."Church in Franklin to host annual living Nativity", Mary Ann Bourbeau, MyCentralJersey.com (combined website of Home News Tribune and Courier News), 4 December 2009."Living Nativity being staged in Somerset", MyCentralJersey.com (combined website of Home News Tribune and Courier News), 5 December 2008. The annual Christmastime event includes "costumed characters, live animals and carollers".
The church celebrated their 175th anniversary in 2009. They buried and sealed a time capsule to be opened at the congregation's 200th anniversary in 2034, 25 years later.
Pastors Pastors have included the following: Jacob I. Schultz (1792-1852), 1834-1837 John Addison Van Doren, 1838-1865 George Swain (pastor), 1866-1868Richard Holloway Steele, Historical discourse delivered at the celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the First Reformed Dutch Church, New Brunswick, N.J., October 1, 1867, pp. 27, Published by the Consistory, 1867. Stephen L. Mershon, 1869–1874 James Le Fevre, 1875-1902Rossiter Johnson, John Howard Brown, The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Volume 6, The Biographical Society, 1904. John A. Thomson (pastor), 1902-1920 Frank A. Langwith, 1921-1926 Harold W. Nelson, 1926-1928 Russell W. Shepherd, 1928-1930 Marinus Den Herder, 1931-1932 Cornelius Van Leeuwen, 1934-1937 Frank A. Langwith, 1937–1948 David W. Jenks, student, 1949-1952 Vernon L. Dethmers, 1952-1960 Charles B. Bridgman, 1961-1973 Ronald L. VanderBeek, 1974-1986 John J. Arnone, assistant, 1981–1982 Gerald L. Vermilye, interim, 1986 Taylor Holbrook, 1986-1998 Ross Rettig, 1999-2001 George Montanari, 2002-current
Notes
Further reading Centennial historical account of the Middlebush Reformed Church, Middlebush, N.J., 1834-1934. Middlebush Reformed Church (N.J.), 1934. Historical discourse delivered at the semi-centennial anniversary of the Reformed Church of Middlebush, N.J. James Le Ferve, Daily and Weekly Home News Printing House, 1884. Favorite recipes of the Middlebush Reformed Church, Middlebush Reformed Church (N.J.), Cookbook Publishers, 1978. Writings on American history: Volume 38 of Carnegie Institution of Washington publication Annual report (American Historical Association), KTO Press, 1938. The Churches speak on--women's ordination: official statements from religious bodies and ecumenical organizations, J. Gordon Melton, Gary L. Ward, The Churches speak series, Gale Research, 1991, 0810376474, 9780810376472. Historical discourse delivered at the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Reformed Church of Middlebush, N.J., John A. Thomson, Published by the Consistory, 1909. Historical discourse on occasion of the centennial anniversary of the Reformed Dutch Church of Millstone, Edward Tanjore Corwin, J.J. Reed, Printer, 1866. Pre-revolutionary Dutch houses and families in northern New Jersey and southern New York, Rosalie Fellows Bailey, Holland Society of New York, Dover Publications, 1968.
External links
Middlebush Reformed Church Official Website