Itinerant Methodist ministers held occasional meetings there. Samuel Dobbins, of strict Quaker parentage, became a Methodist follower and was made presiding elder in 1800. The old meeting house was their quarters until 1830, when a church was built on Plum Street. It was abandoned following the construction of the present brick church on ground deeded to them on May 20, 1853, by John L. and Charles I. Sleeper. It is thought that the old church building on Plum Street eventually became known as "Progressive Hall," owned by Dater Budd.
The Free Meeting House was also the cradle of the Baptist faith. Ministers from the Pemberton Church were among those who first preached there about 1800. A branch of the parent church was organized and met there until September 19, 1834. At this time, the membership was formed into the first regular Baptist congregation of Vincentown. Funds were sought and the present building was erected in 1835. In 1844, Joshua Lippincott was licensed to preach and for over 34 years was prominent in the church work. He was one of the subscribers to the Note of payment for the first hand pump fire engine in Vincentown.
No record is found of the Episcopal faith until 1867. A Reverend Riley, of Haddonfield, conducted services each Sunday in the old Progressive Hall. In 1870, Reverend J. D. Gibson was accepted rector and pioneered the work of Trinity Church. The doors of today's church were opened June 3, 1872. General John S. Irick gave the land on which the church stands. William Coates Haines, John Gordon Herbert, Esq., Henry J. Irick, Leslie L. Clayberger, Mrs. George W. Drexel, to mention only a few, who built their lives into the fabric of this venerable parish church.
The Buddtown United Methodist Church was built in 1854 on land given by Isaac Budd. It was surrounded by a high board fence with double entrance gates. Records show that A.M. Lake was a serving pastor at Buddtown from 1881 to 1885. Before that time, the church was under the jurisdiction of the Pemberton Methodist charge. To date, there may have been as many as forty pastors who served Buddtown. The church's bell was purchased from the Vincent Fire Company in 1915 when the old fire house on Plum Street was demolished. .
The Congregation of the Red Lion Faith Chapel began in 1880 under the leadership of the American Sunday School Union of Philadelphia. Meetings were held in a small chapel at Beaverville. Fire destroyed the meeting place in the early 1900's. Services were then held in the old cranberry house owned by O. B. Moore, late the Black Construction Company office. As cranberry season began, the space was needed and the congregation met on peach baskets in the backyard of the Bates homestead. They were then able to acquire what had been the "Old New-Freedom School House," as it was moved to Red Lion, October 18, 1923. Today, it stands as Willits Chapel. In September, 1959, John Henry, Sr., started building the present church.
Oak Grove Presbyterian Church began under the pioneer efforts of Mrs. Mary Davis, a school teacher of twenty-five years in Philadelphia. Her health somewhat impaired, she came to the pines to take charge of a little school at Johnson Place. There, she organized a Sunday School and conducted simple religious services. In 1916, Reverend Samuel J. McClenaghan, Superintendent of Presbyterian Synodical Home Missions in New Jersey, heard of Mrs. Davis and came in contact with her devoted work. Observing in her the true missionary spirit, he inquired if she would be willing to resign from the school work, and accept a commission as church missionary of the Pine Belt of New Jersey, provided a cottage would be built adjacent to the Johnson Place School House, and adequate support provided.
Mrs. Davis accepted the appointment, and upon the fulfillment of the conditions, entered into her enlarged activities, and for nearly ten years lived to see the mission develop and grow. In 1922, the school building at Retreat was purchased from the Board of Education of Burlington County. This was enlarged and transformed into a structure suitable for religious services. This was brought about by the efforts of Mr. Theodore Budd, a local cranberry grower. In 1923, it was dedicated by Reverend Raymond H. Gage. Reverend James H. Rendell, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Beverly, offered his services as the ordained minister, serving for the next 18 years.
The Roman Catholic presence in Vincentown and Southampton Township was very minimal, if non-existent, in the early days of the community. Gradually, Eastern European and Italian immigrants settled in the area and entered into the commerce of the community. Names such as DiPaolo, Bastinelli, Delfemine and Pagano are found on the rolls of Vincentown schools in the early 1900s. Likewise, Polish and Czech families like Cinkowski, Moskal, and Yakupchek become a part of the community. Those who were of the Roman Catholic faith first attended churches in Mt. Holly and later in Medford Lakes. After World War II, and with the growth of Leisuretowne, which opened in 1970, more Catholics moved into the area, and The Church of the Holy Eucharist was established in 1982 in neighboring Tabernacle, off Carranza Road. While the present church was being built in the mid-1980s, Mass was held in the Hampton Lakes Fire House and Tabernacle Middle School.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF VINCENTOWN
Pastor: Rev. John Vars
Sunday School: 9:45 a.m.
Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00 a.m.
Sunday Evening Worship: 7:00 p.m.
39 Main Street
Vincentown, NJ 08088
Telephone: 609-859-8967
Click here for picture
Click here for website: www.fbcvnj.org
OAK GROVE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Pastor: Rev. Adolph W. Kunen
Sunday School Service: 10:00 a.m.
Worship Service: 11:00 a.m.
Philos Bridge Road
Vincentown, NJ 08088
Telephone: 609-859-2357
Click here for picture
ONE BODY GOSPEL CHURCH
448 Burrs Mill Road
Vincentown, NJ 08088
Telephone:
NOTE: The church structure was formerly St. Jude's Byzantine Catholic Church, affiliated with the Byzantine Diocese. Today it is an active congregation financed in part by a Korean organization. Click here for picture taken when it was St. Jude's Byzantine Catholic Church
RED LION FAITH CHAPEL
Pastor: James (Jim) Ryder
Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 a.m.
Sunday School: 9:45 a.m.
Adult Bible Study-Prayer: Wed., 7:30 p.m.
118 Red Lion Road
Southampton, NJ 08088
Telephone: 609-859-2211
Official Web Site: http://www.redlionfaithchapel.com/
Unofficial Web Site: http://redlionfaithchapel.homestead.com/RLFC.html
Click here for picture
TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
97 MAIN STREET, VINCENTOWN
Pastor: Rev. Dr. Peter Molnar
Sunday Eucharist: 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Sunday School and Child Care: 11:00 a.m.
18 Mill Street
Vincentown, NJ 08088
Telephone: 609-859-2299
Click here for picture
Web site: www.tecnj.com
On July 12-13, Vincentown suffered a major flood and Trinity Church was one of the primary victims. After 9 months of repairs and renovations, the church re-opened for services on Easter Sunday, March 25, 2005. See the parish web site for pictures of the 2004 flood.
VINCENTOWN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday Worship: 11:00 a.m.
Sunday School: 9:30 a.m.
Pastor: Rev. Thomas A. Wadas
97 Main Street
Vincentown, NJ 08088
Telephone: 609-859-2161
Click here for picture
Web site: http://mysite.verizon.net/bizu88dk/vincentownunitedmethodistchurch/
Not located in Vincentown or Southampton, but
serving the Roman Catholic population of the community:
CHURCH OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST
Pastor: Rev. Andrew Jamieson
Masses: Saturday: 5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
520 Medford Lakes Road
Tabernacle, NJ 08088
Telephone: 609-268-8383
www.HolyEucharist.org
