MARMORA — A dwindling year-round island population and changes in the vacation pattern of tourists contributed to the decision to move Union Chapel by the Sea to Upper Township.
“We prayed about it for a few years; it was something that didn’t come easy,” Pastor Tim Bromhead said. “We loved the church and location but Ocean City has changed. Many families that came down for the whole summer are no longer coming.”
He said the congregation began to shrink as the island’s visitor population became more weekly rather than seasonal.
“Even the full-time people were dwindling,” Bromhead said. “People that come for the summer spend a lot of money for a week and don’t come to church.”
Last year, the church moved from its longtime home at 55th Street and Asbury Avenue in Ocean City, which was sold and torn down, to its current site at 1314 Route 9.
Bromhead said a “good majority” of the congregation, which number about 75 families, were coming from Upper Township.
“We started thinking we could have more community to work with and work in in Upper Township,” Bromhead said.
On Sept. 5, the Upper Township Zoning Board approved an amended preliminary and final site plan for construction of a chapel with classrooms.
The board already had granted a use variance and approved the preliminary and major final site plan, as well as preliminary approval for associated bulk variances at 300-306 Route 9 South, during a meeting in spring 2023.
The 8.5-acre property is in both the residential and Marmora Town Center zoning districts.
“We looked for land but it was hard to find,” Bromhead said. “Finally, by the grace of God, we found a piece that friends owned.”
Bromhead said he had worked with the family’s children in a youth program and discovered that the father wanted to sell.
“He enjoyed our vision and mission and wanted to honor that,” Bromhead said. “It was a perfect fit.
He said they plan to build a humble chapel that resembled the former church in Ocean City.
Plans call for five Sunday school classrooms, a fellowship hall and sanctuary, as well as plenty of open space for events.
The congregation now meets in a temporary building formerly used by Brown and Brown Insurance.
“We just got everything approved; it took a little while longer than we thought,” he said.
Bromhead hopes ground is broken for the project by November or December.
“I hope is everything goes well, it will take a year to a year and a half,” he said.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff