100 Scotch Road
Ewing, Mercer County

Contact:
Robert and Helen Kull, Ewing PRES Fund
partners2restore1867@comcast.net
(609) 882-2794

Sept. 2009 UPDATE: The New Brunswick Presbytery has announced its plan to appoint a seven member Administrative Commission that will have as its sole responsibility determination of what the Ewing congregation will do with its 142-year-old house of worship. The commission will review structural reports, interview congregation and community members and examine all aspects of the previous decision-making that led to the church Session's decision to demolish. Spokesmen suggest the commission's work will be complete by the end of 2009.

The First Presbyterian Church of Ewing occupies 58 acres of land in Ewing, New Jersey. The site accommodates a campus of associated historic buildings, dating from 1867 through the 1950s, and the church’s historic cemetery, which includes legible gravestones dating as far back as the 1720s.

The church congregation was originally founded in 1709 as the Hopewell Church. In 1867, the current sanctuary building, the fourth to stand on the site, was completed. Designed by architect J.C. Sidney of Philadelphia and constructed of local brownstone, the sanctuary today represents a remarkably intact example of Romanesque Revival religious architecture, and has been determined eligible for the State and National Registers of Historic Places. While the church’s stained glass windows were replaced in 1969, the building has remained otherwise largely unchanged throughout its 142-year lifespan. Of particular note, as the church’s needs expanded, various buildings, such as a pastor’s manse and a fellowship hall, were constructed on adjacent land throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, but the sanctuary building remained without additions or expansion from its original footprint. The interior of the church also retains the majority of its original configuration, and various original details, including pews

However, time has taken its toll on the building, and the congregation’s governing body is now threatening to complete the process. The church retains its original slate roof, under the weight of which periodic measurements over the past 40 years have demonstrated that the walls of the building are straining and bowing outward. In 2005, the congregation raised over $100,000 to fund a structural engineering firm’s effort to repair the trusses supporting the roof. However, in March 2007, the building began showing more alarming signs of deterioration when ceiling debris dropped into part of the sanctuary. As a result, the church’s insurance carrier then refused to cover the building, and, due to lack of funds and potential liability, the congregation’s deliberative body announced the decision to raze the sanctuary building. While some professionals have suggested that any potential remedies would cost upwards of $1.5 million, others have suggested that less costly measures of stabilization and repair are likely to solve the structural issues. However, the funding required for any of the potential solutions will be significant.

Ewing Presbyterian Church’s congregation has remained overwhelmingly dedicated to saving the sanctuary building throughout this challenging situation. As a result of member activism, the building was re-insured in 2008 with the help of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and as a result, in November 2008, the church’s deliberative body approved a six-month moratorium on irrevocable actions involving the sanctuary. The moratorium was designed to allow for a period of fundraising and advocacy to save the church. Since that time, church members have placed collection buckets at businesses throughout Ewing and surrounding municipalities and have hosted various fundraising events. In the face of effective efforts, most recently, the moratorium was extended through June 30, but as that deadline also draws near, funds are still needed.

While churches throughout New Jersey have suffered the often-detrimental effects of changing congregations and communities, the First Presbyterian Church of Ewing remains an intact representative of Ewing’s past and a significant element of the township’s unique built environment. Preservation New Jersey believes that the demolition of this landmark would constitute a tragic loss. This building’s fate remains in jeopardy, unless funding can be secured before it’s too late.

copyright 2009 Preservation New Jersey