Ocean Grove-Victoria and New Jersey
The Methodists have a method and they like the seaside...down along the shore.
Ocean Grove, New Jersey, USA, within minutes of Springsteen’s stomping ground in Asbury Park, is called “God’s Square Mile At The Jersey Shore”. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association is a non-profit Methodist Group that established a seaside retreat there in 1869. For over a century and a half the beaches were closed on Sunday Morning until worship services were complete. Jesus said, “No surfing before prayer”.
Jesus surfed. I don’t think he said that. We have photographic proof.
In 2024 Ocean Grove beaches were open to all 24/7.
Ocean Grove in America began as a tent colony where 114 canvas tents were attached to small cabins and originally built in 1869. The tents went up on May 15 and came down on September 15th. Anyone can rent these tents now but there is a 10-year waiting list.
Close your eyes and imagine what it would have been like to get out of Newark or New York City and get all your religion and sand all summer long down on the Jersey Shore.
Interested in hanging out with some Methodists here is how you can go about it….
How to Become a Tenter
Tents run about $4,000 to $5,000 for the summer season (May to September), and there are a few rules tenters must follow. Here’s what you need to know about the process.
All prospective tenters are interviewed by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association and placed on a waitlist.
You can’t rent a tent for a week or month; it’s the entire season only.
You can’t sublet your tent, bring pets, or have barbecues.
Air conditioners were once prohibited, but are now allowed.
Ocean Grove is a dry town, however, beer and wine are allowed in cups.
All furniture/decor must be removed from your tent in September. Don’t forget to take those hidden bottles of grog you brought along, too.
But check out their Great Auditorium which was constructed in 1894. Sweet Jesus! And the size of their organ!
Here I am in Ocean Grove, Victoria. As the religious camp community was so successful in New Jersey they decided to spread their camps overseas. And hell, why not get as far away as you can from New Jersey, as many people try to do anyway, and branch out to Australia?
Following a collaboration with the Victorian Methodists, an initial camp was set up near Point Lonsdale. By 1882 they needed to acquire a larger area, so they could establish their Australian Ocean Grove community.
The site chosen was on the eastern side of the mouth of the Barwon River, overlooking Bass Strait.
In 1887, Charles James and James Grigg purchased, surveyed and subdivided land into 2,500 blocks bearing the covenant "no part of the above Land shall be used for the Manufacture or Sale of Malted Spirituous, or Vinous Liquors".
Due to this covenant, no bars or public houses could sell liquor within the town limits. The Ocean Grove Coffee Palace was built for the Methodist and Temperance Society, the first church service was held on 1 January 1888, and the population was such that a post office opened on 14 September 1888.
Street names were named after past religious leaders, and I even noted an Asbury Avenue. I did not see Springsteen Crescent or Bon Jovi Lane. These recent rock gods from New Jersey don’t get a look in here.
Here in Ocean Grove, Victoria, you can now buy a drink. The Ocean Grove Pub is not salubrious or in the town centre. It appears the traditionalists of this Grove would never allow a pub to be built in the main area of town. Funny how some things can’t be budged quickly but in other respects, our world is changing faster than we can keep track of.
Let’s not forget these religious evangelicals were part of the colonisation of this beautiful country. There were already ceremonies and cultures here for thousands of years before they came with their teetotaling ways.
The land on the Bellarine Peninsula is within the boundaries of the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation which originally compromised 25 Clan Groups and is one of the five tribes making up the Kulin Nation.
You don’t need a pub down here. The waves and the wind and the sand and the rocks and the air are enough church for me.
