INVITED: Church Administrator and Executive Pastor Craig Braun and church historian Linda Bubar are working on plans for the 100th anniversary luncheon Sept. 8. (Photo by Victoria Ford)
WELCOME: A sign was placed near the front entrance in 1933. The pile of sand next to the church suggests this photo was taken shortly before the addition was built, under Pastor Jim Shanklin, in 1949. (Supplied Photo)
Grace Calvary Church in Ship Bottom observes its centennial anniversary on Aug. 30. In the 10 weeks from June 30 through Labor Day, the congregation will celebrate 100 years of the church’s history and evolution with storyboards and a culminating catered luncheon Sept. 8, with “another level of detail, with more personal stories presented in different ways,” historian Linda Bubar of Beach Haven West explained.
“There are neat nuggets that didn’t all fit here,” in the visual timeline project, she said. “It’s not the kind of thing you’re going to digest in a single (viewing).”
Bubar, a longtime church member and head of the women’s ministry, was asked to lead the history project, and she happily took it on.
She researched church records and local newspaper archives. She studied historic photographs. She gathered information from books, people, local volunteer organizations and town hall to piece together puzzles of the past.
Pastor Dan Stott, the longest-running pastor of nearly 18 years, described Bubar as “a true genius” and “totally organized.” Indeed, about a year and a half of work has produced the magnum opus now displayed on tables in the space adjacent to the sanctuary – a love story, really, winding its way through the decades from 1910 to present day.
MAPPED: Bubar explains her color-coded timeline from 1910 to 2024. (Photo by Victoria Ford)
To illustrate the church’s legacy, Bubar laid out a timeline in the color-coded contexts of world events, U.S. news, community happenings and the church itself.
“So it goes through each decade,” she said, showing and telling about the newly installed project. “You can see the patterns, or the stories of what was going on.”
HAPPY TRAILS: The different tiers represent global, national, local and church-related events. (Photo by Victoria Ford)
Shining moments and struggles happened amid major change in the world at large. One couple who got married in 1985 had their wedding day crashed by Hurricane Gloria. And in the time following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, people felt more patriotic and many came back to church, looking for comfort, or possibly clarity.
A clergyman’s job, after all, is to interpret scripture for people living in the secular world – to use the Bible as a lens through which to see and understand, Bubar explained.
“We don’t live in a bubble,” she said. By the same token, a pastor doesn’t preach in a vacuum. During a dark time, when all was nearly lost, “it was the body of the church that kept the church together,” Bubar said. “A church isn’t just about a pastor because a church doesn’t exist without the body.” In trying times, she said, members were sustained by their faith and the godly examples of their fellow congregants.
Christian Concepts
Take Root in Ship Bottom
Aug. 31, 1924: A celebration marked the consecration of the ground for the new chapel. The procession started at the ‘firehouse’ (old train station) and marched across the street to the current location, along with the glee club from Harvey Cedars YWCA (Camp Whalen) singing ‘Onward Christian Soldiers.’ (Supplied Photo)
On Aug. 30, 1924, the ground where the main chapel now stands was consecrated in preparation for the building of Union Chapel, as Bubar recounted in a written chronology. Its seeds were sown in an era of revival movements, known as the Third Great Awakening and the Social Gospel, in the wake of World War I and the Spanish Flu pandemic, which claimed twice as many lives worldwide as the war had.
Another consecration ceremony was held for the building addition in 1949. (Supplied Photo)
About 300 people attended the consecration, Bubar said.
Throughout the last century, the community has always been deeply embedded in the church, she added. Going back to the beginning, the founders and benefactors were also the town’s firefighters and community leaders. A lot of the year-round residents were young families. The church and town grew together as infrastructure and services were put in place to help everyone function and thrive.
The most engaging aspect of the project for Bubar was learning about the interconnectedness of the people and their overlapping stories.
ORIGIN STORY: They had constructed a stage for the original consecration ceremony. John ‘Dad’ Schill emceed; the Rev. U.F. Smiley, from Dormont Presbyterian in Pittsburgh, made the address and plea for funds to help pay for the chapel. They raised $850 that day. Scripture was read by the Rev. A. Parceles from the Methodist Church of Beach Haven, and the YWCA glee club performed. Schill used a silver-plated shovel with date inscription to dig the first spadeful of dirt. (Supplied Photo)
“Our founder, John ‘Dad’ Schill, was influenced by (evangelist) Billy Sunday and eagerly shared God’s word and collected small donations on the train from Philadelphia as far back as 1916,” she wrote. “Before the church was even a building, Schill connected with other locals in Beach Arlington/Ship Bottom, who opened their porches for ‘Sunday School’ and their homes for song fests, prayer and fellowship.”
When they outgrew the porch, they moved to the 19th Street railroad station, holding services after the last train passed through, Bubar continued. The hurricane of 1920 and nor’easter of 1923 came during Prohibition, decimating the Island, halting railroad access and ending the age of grand resort hotels. The train station in Ship Bottom became the first fire station in 1922, and Union Church continued to hold Sunday School there. That year, the church formed a group of trustees and began to raise funds to buy land.
Original fire company member Moses Friedel helped install the 1,500-pound bell Charles Conrad had donated for the church, Bubar added.
Church chapel under construction. The man on the roof is Dave Wark Sr., who owned a hardware store on the Island. (Supplied Photo)
“Together with John Pharo, Charles Cox and David Wark, they donated their time and labored until midnight on a Saturday so it could be ringing on Sunday!”
The congregants established their non-denominational Union Church to encourage Islanders and visitors to share the Christian gospel message of hope and promise, she explained.
“Making their final payment on the lot, the physical church building began with much fanfare on the corner of 19th Street and Long Beach Boulevard with a flag-waving march from the firehouse across the street to the building site, with a girls’ choir from YWCA Camp Whelan (located in the building once known as Harvey Cedars Hotel and known since 1941 as Harvey Cedars Bible Conference),” according to Bubar.
Schill often recruited pastors from Philadelphia to preach, she continued. They were usually either young seminary students or retirees.
The earliest pastors were simply “people who loved the Lord,” she said.
Schill’s successor was John Sinnamon, a retired Methodist pastor, a gifted orator with an Irish brogue, known for his teaching of the book of Revelation. He took over the pastorship in the early years of the Great Depression, served from 1929 to 1935 and later stayed as Emeritus. Following Sinnamon was 21-year-old Jack Kilbert, noted for his way with young people and remembered for his humor and bravery. He baptized many in the bay. He was killed in World War II during the Battle of the Bulge while serving as chaplain.
Rounding out the 1940s was James Shanklin, who started the first youth choir. Extra rooms were added to the original structure for Sunday School classes. A large patriotic service was held in 1943, with all town organizations and servicemen invited to celebrate the victory at Stalingrad, where German forces surrendered. In 1945, Sunday evening services were suspended due to fuel shortages.
(Supplied Photo)
“Some of our older members talk of the beaches being marbled with oil and debris from sunken ships offshore, and occasional bodies,” Bubar wrote.
The Silver Jubilee bulletin in 1949 describes Union Church as “Everybody’s Church” and “The Heart of LBI.”
Shanklin left in the ’50s to preach at Manahawkin Baptist Church.
Governance changes and procedural issues marked the 1950s at Union Church while churches in general were growing with the postwar baby boom, Bubar explained. The bylaws were rewritten amid a “period of trial” in the organization’s growth. In the mid-’50s a parsonage was built; Pastor Al Morris came aboard in 1957, but his time was cut short when he died in the aftermath of the Great March Storm of 1962.
“William Magsum, a self-described ‘country boy’ with a forceful voice and a passion for ‘that old-time religion,’ followed from 1962 through to ’67 and remained as Pastor Emeritus,” Bubar documented. “During his tenure, the United States entered the Vietnam War; the church’s 40-year anniversary was celebrated; and, with it, the existing mortgage was closed out and symbolically burned.”
Consecration day for the 1949 addition. The woman with the shovel, Mary Buchwald was an original trustee and remained a trustee until 1953. She was also a Sunday School teacher. (Supplied Photo)
Duane Johnson became pastor in 1968, coming to Union Church as a student from Eastern Baptist Seminary during an era in American history marked by rising protests and terrorism, the start of the Jesus revolution and the hippie movement, she wrote. He went to a Baptist church in Ohio in 1973 but returned in 1975 and stayed through ’82. Union Church was becoming a center on LBI for revival on the heels of disillusionment with war and politics, according to Bubar.
“Under Johnson, programs expanded, plans and appropriations were made for building the two-story Sunday School, and mission giving doubled,” Bubar wrote. “The church had grown from a seasonal resort church to a church bustling with all kinds of activities throughout the year, and a Union Christian Academy was initiated in 1980.”
Jack Hurley took the helm in 1982, the Sunday School addition was completed in 1983, and the UCA closed in 1984. Fellowship activities declined. The church changed its name to Grace Calvary Evangelical. The parsonage was sold in 1987, and land had been purchased on the mainland. Toward the end of the decade, division grew within the church regarding its direction. For a time, the church split, and the dissenters gathered for worship at the Beach Haven West Community Center or in the new conference rooms of the Holiday Inn. Ultimately the church remained in Ship Bottom.
But throughout the ’90s, the church continued to struggle. By March 1991, membership had dwindled to 24. In 1994 the church changed its name to Grace Calvary Church. Membership doubled, but with new growth arose new issues, and the church split again.
Pastor Denny Barger resigned in 1995 and took half the members with him. Alex Dodi stepped up to replace him, leading an active and loyal congregation of 22 people. Dodi focused on the book of Ephesians and stayed true to the church’s biblical roots.
21st Century Brings
Stability, Brighter Days
In December 2002, the church approached Dave Murdoch, who had served at Manahawkin Baptist Church from 1973 to 1982 and had been instrumental in starting the Lighthouse Christian Academy in Manahawkin. Murdoch began preaching at Grace Calvary in January 2003.
Soon the church became self-sustaining again. By summer, the church was regularly drawing about 200 people. “Bible studies were held on the beach at night for 10 weeks during the summer, where passersby could sit in and spontaneous baptisms might be performed,” according to Bubar. Murdoch’s sermons were broadcast on radio stations WYRS and WJRZ. He pastored through 2007.
MOVING ON: In January, Pastor Dan Stott laid to rest his wife of 40 years. In the fall he will head west to Idaho after 18 years preaching at Grace Calvary. (Photo by Victoria Ford)
“During an era of globalization and polarization, Pastor Dan Stott arrived in 2007, preaching a born-again message that encouraged many to ‘take the plunge for Jesus,’” she wrote. “(Stott) had completed his master’s in biblical exposition in 1988 and his doctorate in pastoral ministry at Dallas Seminary in 2006 and had served in Ireland before coming to GCC. Known for his excellent expository teaching of scripture, both in sermon and in studies, (Stott) continues to enjoy the longest tenure of any pastor to date,” though not without his share of challenges.
First, Superstorm Sandy happened in October 2012, and the church became a rescue hub, supplying essential items and housing the Southern Baptist Convention remediation teams to help mitigate damage. That winter, he was recognized by the LBI community and honored to serve as grand marshal in the annual Christmas Parade.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Grace Calvary persevered by holding drive-in services: Stott preached from the back of a truck while congregants listened from their cars. The clever solution was featured on News 12. Later, a TV screen was mounted in the front courtyard with socially distanced seating set up under folding canopies.
“Our prayer warriors continued to pray while practicing distancing protocol,” Bubar said.
During Stott’s time, Grace Calvary has had several youth/assistant pastors – two of whom now serve as missionaries in Kenya and Vanuatu; another is church planting in upstate New York; another is a student pastor in Nebraska.
Church Administrator and Executive Pastor Craig Braun, of Perry’s Lake, grew up in the church and now helps guide its direction. He first moved to LBI in 1972, started Sunday School in ’74 when it was Union Church, left in ’89 and came back in 2005, he said. He was youth pastor at Cedar Creek Community Church in Bayville, where he was urged to further his studies, so he took online courses through Carolina University to earn his degree and was ordained at Cedar Creek.
Sadly, Stott’s wife, Lynda, was diagnosed with cancer in 2021-22 and died in January 2024. A plaque has been dedicated in her memory in GCC’s “Quiet Room” for babies and toddlers off the narthex.
Dan and Lynda got engaged on LBI and were married 40 years, Stott said in his private office, where he reflected and talked about next steps. In the fall, he will leave his post in Ship Bottom and move to Idaho to be near two of his four children, who live in Idaho, Utah, Texas and Minnesota. A search team process is underway to replace him.
His and Lynda’s shared vision for Grace Calvary always was to cultivate a family dynamic, he said. “And it has certainly become a close-knit church family. Being as we are Christians, Jesus is the center of my teaching.”
He looks forward to delivering his Sunday messages through the summer – to a crowd that doubles in size from the off-season – in the usual fashion, teaching verses of the Bible in order (they’re currently working their way through the Book of Peter).
“It’s how I’m led,” he said.
The anniversary project has strengthened Bubar’s connection to her church family and the borough that has supported it all along.
“It’s important to know where things came from, in order to appreciate where you’re going and have a better view,” she said. “Otherwise, we take things for granted. You can see a picture and say, ‘Oh, it’s a nice building.’ But it helps to have context – there is more to it. My hope is people will see the ‘more.’”
victoria@thesandpaper.net
