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CHAPTER VIII Churches
and Religious Institutions |
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X. Unclassified
THE accounts of the following congregations, though representative of as many distinct denominations, are grouped together here because each is the sole representative of its denomination in Trenton. In this section also is the brief account of an early German congregation which has since disbanded. THE
MAGYAR REFORMED CHURCH - 1894
HOME AVENUE AND BEATTY STREET The Magyar Reformed Church of Trenton
was organized on September 23, 1894. Its first pastor was the Rev. Stephen
Juranyi, who, shortly after its organization, resigned. On May 9, 1897,
the Rev. Francis Csamfordi was elected pastor. In
1898, on July 19, the members bought the vacant lot on Home Avenue and
Beatty Street and erected the present structure. Subsequently the building
next to the church was purchased and renovated as a pastor's home. The
congregation is now affiliated with the Reformed Church of Hungary.
Since 1910 the pastor has been the Rev. Geza Korocz. In
1917 the church was reconstructed, and a modern parish house built in
place of the old one. There
are, in the congregation today, over six hundred families. The property
of the church is worth about $60,000. The Magyar Reformed Church of
Trenton may be classed as one of the largest Magyar Reformed congregations
of the United States. FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST - 1904 WEST STATE STREET AND RICHEY PLACE Christian
Science was first brought to public attention in this city in the early
part of September 1903, when a student of Mrs. Pamelia J. Leonard, C.S.D.,
of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mrs. Mary E. Ogden, C.S., Came to Trenton with the
approval and advice of her teacher and started Christian Science services
and work as a practitioner, assisted at first by Miss Althea J. Truex
and later by Edward A. Stokes, both long resident in this city. These
services were conducted every Sunday morning in the Shreve Building
on East State Street. Attendance
increased so rapidly that on June 17, 1904, there were sufficient eligible
Christian Scientists to organize a church under the laws of the State
of New Jersey, in the name of "First Church of Christ, Scientist,
of Trenton, New Jersey," at which time regularly elected officers
were appointed, Mrs. M. E. Ogden being elected first reader and Mr.
E. A. Stokes second reader. It
soon became necessary to secure larger quarters at 216 Academy Street.
Then a building fund was started, which resulted in the erection of
a chapel, in the spring of 1908, having a seating capacity of about
one hundred and fifty. A convenient lot had previously been presented
to the church by Mrs. Permelia Stokes, mother of E. A. Stokes. This
chapel was dedicated, free of debt, on December 13, 1908. In
January 1920, upon the unanimous vote of the members present at a meeting
held for that purpose, it was decided to sell this property, owing to
an increasingly noisy environment, and to secure a lot more suitably
located. The lot upon which the new church now stands was purchased
with the proceeds from this sale. After
leaving the chapel on East State Street, services were held for two
years at the Bowen Preparatory School, 214 West State Street, and later
for about live years at the Stacy-Trent Hotel. On
January 1, 1928, the church moved into its new structure, located at
the corner of West State Street and Richey Place, where services are
now held. The first readers of the church, who are limited to a term
of three years each, are in turn as follows; Mrs. Mary E. Ogden, Miss
Sarah V. Milne, Edward A, Stokes, Miss Josephine A. Chase, Miss Althea
J. Truex, Charles E. Milum, and Edwin S. Sutton, the present first reader,
with Mrs. Emily M. Walker as second reader. Intervening part-term incumbents
have also served as first readers. The
members of the building committee for the erection of the new
edifice are as follows; I. P. Keeler, Edwin S. Sutton, Lewis Schultz,
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Bender, and Mrs. Wm. J. Rogers, all of this city. FIRST
UNITARIAN CHURCH - 1916
MEETS IN SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL ARTS In 1915
a group of people of the non‑evangelical type formed a
society for the promotion of "liberal" religion in the community.
Throughout the winter, meetings were held regularly every Sunday
evening in the auditorium of the Senior High School on Hamilton Avenue.
In the spring of 1916 the society decided to become associated with
the American Unitarian Association and assumed the name of The First
Unitarian Church of Trenton. Prudence Hall in the School of Industrial
Arts, on the corner of West State and Willow Streets, was chosen as
the place for the holding of Sunday services, The
Rev. Edward H. Reeman of the Church of Our Fathers, Lancaster, Pa.,
was called as the first minister. Under his leadership the group grew
in numbers. Mr. Reeman was succeeded in 1920 by the Rev. Robert L. M.
Holt who stayed until 1922, when the Rev, A. R. Shelander was called
as minister. Mr. Shelander resigned in 1926 and was succeeded in 1927
by the Rev. Elmer D. Colcord of Springfield, Mass. Meetings
have been held continuously in Prudence Hall with the exception of one
year during the war when the congregation of Har Sinai Temple put their
place of worship at the disposal of the Unitarian Church for Sunday
services. In addition
to the regular Sunday services the church carries on a number of activities
through the allied societies of the Women's Alliance, the Laymen's League,
and the Young People's Religious Union. The
present officers of the church are: president, Roscoe L. West; clerk,
Tobias Brill; treasurer, Frank H. Green; trustees, the officers and
Edwin K. Fowler, James D. Jackson, Albin G. Nicolaysen, Robert G. Leavitt,
Mrs. H. R. McGinnis and Mrs. Uno Malmstrom. POLISH
NATIONAL CATHOLIC PARISH OF OUR SAVIOUR - 1917
EAST STATE STREET The
Polish National Catholic Parish of Our Saviour was organized in 1917
by the present bishop of that body with home in Scranton, Pa.
The organization is closely affiliated with the "Old Catholic"
body in Europe and has a membership of some 250,000 in this country
and in Poland. The parish numbers about two hundred families. Its present
building on East State Street was formerly the property of St. James
Episcopal Church. The church was consecrated April 19, 1917, by Bishop
Hodur. In addition to the church building, the parish owns a cemetery,
a rectory and a hall which is the center of the social life of
the parish. The present rector is the Rev. Father J. Michalski, who
has been in charge since November 10, 1927. THE
UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH‑1919
LIBERTY AND WOODLAND STREETS The
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity was organized by the Very
Rev. Vladimir A. Kashiw in September 1919 and was incorporated the same
year. At
the time of organization the membership totalled fifty‑seven families.
They bought a home at 18 Woodland Street which was remodelled so that
the first floor was used as the chapel while the second floor was used
as the priest's residence. A cemetery
was added to their possession and in 1924 the church on Liberty and
Woodland Streets was bought for $7,000. In
1925 the church was blessed by the Most Rev. John Theodorowich, archbishop
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America and Canada. The Ukrainian
Orthodox Diocese is directly connected with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
in Kiev, Ukraine, the head of which is Metropolitan Wasyl Lypkiwsky,
of Kiev and all Ukraine. The
Very Rev. V. A. Kashiw was the pastor of the church from September 1919
until October 1925. After that time the following priests were pastors
of the church: the Rev. Paul Korsunowsky, the Rev. N. Kostetzky, the
Rev. W. Nowosad, the Rev. D. Lazare, and the present pastor is the Rev.
J. Zelechivsky. The
congregation now has about two hundred members, of whom practically
all are American citizens. ST.
GEORGE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH - 1922
JACKSON STREET St.
George Greek Orthodox Church was established in 1922. The Charter members
were Peter Skokas, John Roumanis, George Vanellis, Peter Manetas, John
Stylianos, James Bardos, Dan Vafias, A. Mamolu, N. Manohas and A. Maverelis. Services
were first held in the Sunday school room of Trinity Church on Academy
Street. Subsequently a hall was rented on East Hanover Street and services
were held there until a church was built on Jackson Street in 1924. St.
George Church is under the jurisdiction of Archbishop Alexander of the
Greek Orthodox Church in America. Members of the congregation number
about one hundred and fifty. The
Greek school has some forty-five pupils, who are taught the Greek language
and also receive religious instruction. AN
EARLY GERMAN CONGREGATION - 1835
One
of the earliest attempts to provide services for the few Germans then
living in Trenton appears to have been made in 1835 when a congregation
was organized through the efforts of the Rev. J. W. Davis, who had been
preaching in Trenton on behalf of the German Reformed Church. A local
society of this body, consisting of less than a dozen persons, was organized
in 1836 and a call was issued on March 4 of that year to the Rev. John
H. Smaltz to become the pastor. Mr. Smaltz accepted the call, but remained
for only two years. A church building was begun on Front Street but does not seem to have
been completed for several years, though the cornerstone was laid September
8, 1836. In
1841 the congregation, having dissolved its ecclesiastical connection
with the German Reformed body, was received into the communion of the
Dutch Reformed Church. The Rev. Charles P. Wack was called as pastor
the same year and the church building on Front Street was finished and
dedicated by the Rev. Samuel A. Van Vranken, D.D., of New Brunswick.
The Rev. Mr. Wack continued as pastor until 1843 when he resigned his
charge, whereupon the church was permanently closed and the congregation
apparently dissolved. From the account of this society in Raum's History
of the City of Trenton, pages 107-8, it does not seem to be plain
whether this congregation was German- or English-speaking or a mixture
of both, but the probabilities are that the congregation was English-speaking. In 1846
the church building on Front Street was sold to some members of the
Greene Street (First Methodist) Church, who formed a new congregation
which subsequently was known as the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church,
now having its place of worship on Perry Street. In 1865 the Front Street
church was purchased by the congregation of St. Francis Roman Catholic
Church and has since then been occupied by that body. |
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