Our History continued
In 1885, Rev. J.B. Westcott established the sanctuary and church school building for $17,000. On the last Sunday in May, 1885 Dr. Stokes preached the first sermon in the lecture room of the new church. A month later, the "audience room" (sanctuary) was ready and Dr. James M. King of New York preached the dedicatory sermon from John 1:4. The congregation was "home" after several years of wandering from meeting place to meeting place, and had a debt of only $1,600. Within the year, St. Paul's had established a chapel at Ocean Park (Bradley Beach). The chapel boasted a good Sabbath school and regular Sunday services. The membership of St. Paul's was 400 and growing.
Winter of 1891-92, a committee consisting mainly of young people purchased and installed the first pipe organ costing $1,500.
April 8, 1896, re-incorporated as "The St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church of Ocean Grove. 1897, St. Paul's membership reaches 650.
1900's, St. Paul's Church helped bring great music to the area and at the same time reaped some financial gain, much of which was used to pay off debts, by staging annual St. Paul's Night Concerts in the Ocean Grove Auditorium. Some of the world's best-known vocalists sung for St. Paul's Night.
In 1908, during the pastorate of the Rev. Percy Perinchief, a brownstone Sunday School Temple was added to the building.
In 1925, a gala program lasting from November 8 to 11 marked the Golden Jubilee of our Church. Parishioners were reminded that the motto of St. Paul's Church was "All at it and always at it." There was a challenge fitting for such an occasion. It was in the form of an "Anniversary Ode" written by Dr. John Love, a retired Baptist minister and father of the organist here, Mrs. Harold Warren. Dr. Love's ode included a dedication to "our Paradise beside the sea" and pledged participants as follows: "Anew we pledge our love and loyalty/Our aim - the Master's name to glorify/Win souls for Him and fit them for the sky." "Increase our zest," said the hymn-prayer, "with sacred fire...Thrill hearts with joy; evoke our grateful praise." This was a high tide in the life of our community Church.
In 1941, an unforgettable occasion was the burning of the parsonage mortgage.
In 1945 at the 75th anniversary of St. Paul's, Pastor Verne Leslie Smith greeted 109 new members in one day.
The 1950's brought the need for enlarged facilities. During Dr. Herbert J. Smith's pastorate many meetings and prayers were devoted to the single purpose of modernization of this important facility.