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Local News - Congregation builds new church after a century in Mullica Township

AC Press

Mullica Church

Posted: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 11:29 pm | Updated: 12:00 am, Thu May 26, 2011.

MULLICA TOWNSHIP — Evelyn Ricci has lived along Pleasant Mills Road in the Weekstown section of the township for all of her 88 years.

As a child, there was no electricity at her family’s dairy farm, and she delivered milk in the mornings before class in the one-room schoolhouse across the street.

Her maiden name was Weeks — a third generation descendant of....Continue Reading 



the area’s English-immigrant founders for whom this section of the township is named. Located near the Mullica River, the community remains secluded and small, a Pinelands village steeped in history and tradition.

For as long as Ricci can remember, the Weekstown Community Church, built in 1915, has been the community’s hub and the best representation of its values. Ricci’s family helped build the church, and Ricci started attending as a girl less than a decade after it opened.

“That was the center of activity,” she said. “(People) soon forget, or they never knew. It was a good place, and still is.”

But that good place is cramped for space, its architecture restricting the congregation’s potential size.

After decades of donations from members such as Ricci, the congregation is building a new church, about 1,000 feet west on Pleasant Mills Road.

While many churches throughout the region are closing or reducing their services, locals expect the new church to help expand their congregation.

The new building will be larger and more modern, but it is being constructed in the same spirit as its predecessor. Congregants who work as contractors are doing much of the plumbing, electrical, excavating and other work for free.

“The church has been very blessed,” said Mayor Jim Brown, a longtime member.

Although it will likely not open for worship until next year, the nondenominational church will hold a “New Beginnings” dedication ceremony 2 p.m. June 5 at the new building at the corner of Cranberry Court and Pleasant Mills Road.

At that ceremony, the congregation is expected to discuss the long timeline that led it to where it is now, and where it hopes to go in the future.

“The church is there for the community even if they’re not part of the church,” said the Rev. Robert Surace, 50, who lives just around the corner from both sites.

Surace estimated there are about 40 regular members at each Sunday service and another 15 guests — at times, packing the old building.

Bob Hagaman, 80, was born and raised in Weekstown and is one of the several lifelong members who still attends Sunday services.

On a recent afternoon, he walked through the building with Fred Sciscoe, 82, who was raised in Mullica but now lives in Galloway and comes back to Weekstown each weekend.

Together, they pointed out the first-floor rooms where women canned food for the war effort in World War II and the room where Hagaman washed dishes as a child after community dinners.

The large rectangular white building at the corner of Pleasant Mills and Green Bank roads has rooms for Sunday school on its first floor, with the sanctuary is on its second level.

The elderly residents have trouble climbing the narrow stairs to the room that holds the tabernacle, so the church installed an electronic lift to get people most of the way up.

The sanctuary is lined by mahogany pews that were dedicated around the 1950s and put together by the townspeople.

The original tin ceiling remains, except for a section replaced after acid from bat droppings started seeping through.

In the back of the room is a thermometer painted on a poster board that keeps track of fundraising efforts, with red painted mercury rising to reach dollar amounts.

“That’s been used for a variety of things,” said Sciscoe, including new siding, a new roof and now the new church.

The original church was part of a trio of United Methodist churches in that area of the Pinelands, but the congregation decided to split with the Methodist church in 1990.

Officials acquired the land for the new building in 2000. William and Ann Fox, who own the cranberry bogs behind the land, donated it.

The congregation received approval from the township for the project in 2008, then from the county in 2009 and the Pinelands Commission shortly after that.

Construction began in April, and the shell of the new, approximately $300,000, 6,000-square-foot building stands on the site.

With easier access and more space, the assembly hopes the new building will attract more members.

“We’ve always worked with the youth here as well,” Hagaman said, so there is the potential for a next generation to fill the facility’s pews.

Locals like Ricci said the new building is a nice and necessary change, but they hope any new members know and honor the history that made it possible.

“As years go by, if someone doesn’t make an account of it, it’s kind of lost,” she said.

Contact Lee Procida: 609-457-8707 LProcida@pressofac.com

Mullica Church

The new Weekstown Community Church is being built in Mullica Township to replace a century-old building in the heart of the Pine Barrens.

Mullica Church

The Rev. Robert Surace, left, of Weekstown Community Church, and Mullica Township Mayor Jim Brown talk about the old Weekstown Community Church.

Mullica Church

Mullica Township Mayor Jim Brown stands near the shell of the new Weekstown Community Church.

Mullica Church

The old Weekstown Community Church includes a lift to help those who have difficulty climbing the steps to the sanctuary upstairs.

Mullica Church

Mullica Church

The congregation will hold a dedication for the new church June 5, although it probably won't be open for services until next year. Mullica Township Mayor Jim Brown walks through the shell of the new Weekstown Community Church.

Mullica Church map

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