The Grove

When Reverend W.B. Osbourn first purchased the 6-acre grove near Sandy Hook in 1869, he never imagined that his religious oceanfront oasis would become a predominately gay community. The Methodist owned town of Ocean Grove, New Jersey has now become the home and workplace of many L.G.B.T.Q members.

Reverend W.B. Osbourn originally established Ocean Grove as a place where Methodists could congregate and enjoy a religious experience by the sea. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association still controls the town today. This organization hosts Sunday morning beach worship at the Boardwalk Pavilion as well as “Son-Rise Celebrations” which are prayer meetings held every Saturday at sunrise in the summer. Each year the Methodist community at Ocean Grove sponsors a beach festival called “Beach Blaze” where people can enjoy worship bands, vendors, exhibits, games and a volleyball tournament. The Methodist church also offers retreats for religious groups all over the country as well as week long seminars for various Colleges and Universities.Ocean Grove has remained a dry town since its establishment and continues to embrace its strong religious ties.

Although the town has stayed true to its Methodist roots, a growing number of L.G.B.T.Q. members has moved in and set up businesses over the last 10 years. The L.G.B.T.Q. community has revitalized the town of Ocean Grove by establishing quaint bed and breakfasts, antique shops and restaurants. The new business brought in by the community turned the town into a New Jersey vacation hot spot. The two conflicting groups which make-up the towns population enjoyed a pleasant give and take relationship until New Jersey’s new Same-Sex Civil Union law went into effect on Feb. 19, 2007.

In June 2007 two lesbian couples requested permission to have civil unions at Ocean Grove’s Boardwalk Pavilion. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association denied both couples access to the Boardwalk Pavilion on the basis that same-sex marriage went against the beliefs of the Methodist church.

One of the couples immediately decided to take action against this injustice. Harriet Bernstein and Luisa Paster sued the O.G. Camp Meeting Association stating that they were being wrongful discriminated against based upon sexual orientation. With the help of the New Jersey division of Civil Rights, the couple was able to make an impact on Ocean Grove. On Sept. 18, 2007 the Boardwalk Pavilion was ruled to no longer abide by the guidelines of New Jerseys Green Acre Program. The Green Acre Program states that private property can be tax exempt if opened up to the general public.

By denying same-sex couples the right to have civil unions in the Boardwalk Pavilion the area is no longer open to the public. The town has always had a tax-exempt beachfront and boardwalk but will now be paying over $20,000 dollars a year in real estate tax.

Although this is a win for the gay community of Ocean Grove, Bernstein and Paster were still unable to hold their ceremony at the Boardwalk Pavilion. Instead, the couple exchanged their vows at a fishing pier not far from the disputed location. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association continues to discriminate against the homosexual community by banning same sex unions at their Boardwalk Pavilion. Only part of the battle against the Methodist church of Ocean County has been won. The newly established Ocean Grove United continues “working for civil rights for all Ocean Grove residents” as their slogan states. The group recently took part in New Jersey Pride at Asbury Park on June 1 2008 where they continued to spread the word about overcoming discrimination in Ocean Grove.

[ocean grove united]
[ocean grove camp meeting association]