The Stillwater Presbyterian Church (also known as the First Presbyterian Church of Stillwater) was a congregation of the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...

located in the village of Stillwater in Stillwater Township of

Sussex County, New Jersey Sussex County () is the northernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Newton.United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was a member of the Presbytery of the Highlands. Founded in 1769 as a union church shared by members of the Reformed and Lutheran faiths, the parish, now Presbyterian, closed in 2019.

History

This congregation was formally organized in 1769 as a union church shared by the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

and

German Reformed The Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R) was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1934 by the merger of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) with the Evangelical Synod of North America (ESNA). ...

(

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

) faiths.Chambers, Theodore Frelinghuysen. ''The Early Germans of New Jersey: Their History, Churches, and Genealogies''. (Dover, New Jersey, Dover Printing Company, 1895), 631 ff. Construction of a stone

house of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is s ...

was finished in 1771. Stillwater and the surrounding

Paulins Kill The Paulins Kill (also known as Paulinskill River) is a tributary of the Delaware River in northwestern New Jersey in the United States. With a long-term median flow rate of 76 cubic feet of water per second (2.15 m3/s), it is New Jers ...

valley was settled chiefly by Palatine German immigrants in the 18th century, beginning in 1741 with the arrival of Casper Shafer, John George Wintermute, Johan Peter Bernhardt and their families.Wintermute, Jacob Perry. ''The Wintermute Family History''. (Columbus, Ohio: The Champlin Press, 1900). The first few families likely held prayer services in their homes with their neighbors. Early Stillwater families are mentioned in the records of the Dutch Reformed congregations in the Minisink Valley (along the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

), and likely journeyed over

Kittatinny Mountain Kittatinny Mountain (Unami language, Lenape: Kitahtëne) is a long ridge traversing primarily Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County in northwestern New Jersey, running in a northeast-southwest axis, a continuation across the Delaware Water G ...

to attend services in Walpack. As the area's population grew and the village of Stillwater developed, its Christian community was served by clergymen who travelled a circuit of churches in remote, sparsely inhabited regions. Clergymen were provided as "stated supply" by the Dutch Reformed or Calvinist

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

(or Classis) in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The congregation did not have a permanent clergyman until the 1780s. From 1769 to 1771, a church building was constructed from local

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

in the older section of Stillwater Cemetery. This church, known as the ''Dutch Meeting House'', ''Reformed Association of Hardwick'', and ''Lutheran Congregation of Hardwick'', served the large

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

population that settled the

valley and the surrounding area in the middle of the eighteenth century. In 1823, with the area's German population either dying off, migrating to territories in the American West or assimilating into English-oriented American culture, the congregation petitioned the Presbytery of Newton to affiliate with the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

faith. By the 1830s, the stone church was beginning to become structurally unsound, and the current structure, an frame structure that is an example of

Greek Revival architecture Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

, although featuring

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

(

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massin ...

) windows, was erected in 1837–1838 at a cost of $2,000.First Presbyterian Church of Stillwater – Church History
(accessed 23 June 2012)Snell, James P. ''History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers''. (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881) (page number) Additions to this structure, largely to support the church's "

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

" (children's Christian education) and Communion (Christian), fellowship activities, were built in 1910, 1959, and 1990. It is likely the third structure used by this congregation—the first presumed to be a rudimentary log building erected circa 1745–1750 that occupied the site in the Stillwater Cemetery of the fieldstone structure which succeeded it. Local tradition asserts that the fieldstone wall of Stillwater Cemetery was built with stones from the abandoned stone structure when it was dismantled in 1847. A stone with "1771" carved into its face (likely the cornerstone from the former structure) is incorporated into the cemetery gate.

References

External links

Highlands Presbytery
(oversees Stillwater and other surrounding Presbyterian churches)

* ttp://njchurchscape.com/Stillwater-Pres.html Stillwater Presbyterian Church at New Jersey Churchscape {{Coord, 41.036506, -74.878424, region:US-NJ_type:landmark_scale:1000, display=title Churches in Sussex County, New Jersey Palatine German settlement in New Jersey Presbyterian churches in New Jersey Greek Revival church buildings in New Jersey Presbytery of Newton Stillwater Township, New Jersey 1769 establishments in New Jersey Pre-statehood history of New Jersey

History

See also

References

External links