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Bishop Janes Tabernacle

Welcome!

To the west of Beersheba is the Bishop Janes Memorial Tabernacle. It is the oldest building of worship, dedicated July 14, 1877. Its predecessor was a tent erected on Ocean Pathway.

In 1875, the Rev. Dr. Ellwood H. Stokes, the Camp Meeting Association president, recommended construction of a frame building. In early spring of 1877, erection of the present Tabernacle was begun. The original plan was to erect a frame supporting a permanent roof using curtains around the sides for protection from the weather. Only after work was underway was the decision reached to make a complete and permanent enclosure. This building was completed in the early summer and on the evening of Saturday, July 14, was formally opened and dedicated to the memory of Bishop Edmund Janes who had recently died. Janes’ last official act as Bishop was dedicating St. Paul’s United Methodist Church here in the Grove. Bishop Janes was never bishop of a New Jersey Conference, but he served several other conferences and was President of the Methodist Missionary Society. He worked tirelessly for the reunification of the Church after the Civil War (a reunification which ultimately happened in 1939).

President Stokes conducted the dedicating service of the Tabernacle and following this “a basket collection was taken to aid in our expenses — the first one ever asked on the grounds for this purpose — amounting to $52.00. These collections were continued on Sundays through the season and once a day during Camp Meeting.

Much of the early religious history of Ocean Grove has been made in the Janes Memorial Tabernacle. For years it was the meeting place of the Bible Class and then later the Primary Department of Sunday School was also held in it. From the very beginning it held the morning Bible readings and holiness meetings during the season.