Bergenfield church, one of Bergen County's first, kicks off 300th anniversary celebration

In 1723, Dutch pastor Guiliam Bertholf was dismayed by what he saw in Colonial North Jersey. There were only two churches in the region — one in present-day Hackensack and another many miles away in Tappan, New York.

That was too far for many of the farmers who'd settled in the area to travel. A new congregation was needed, Bertholf decided, so he established one smack in the middle of Schraalenburgh, the territory that would become today's Bergenfield and Dumont.

That's how the Dutch Reformed Church of Schraalenburgh was born, said Bergenfield historian Tim Adriance, for whom the tale is not just history: Bertholf was one of his ancestors.

The small square stone church was built atop a tiny hill west of Long Swamp Brook, which is now known as Cooper's Pond in Bergenfield. It was only the third Christian congregation formed in Bergen County, Adriance said.

The church was eventually replaced by the larger edifice that now stands at the corner of Prospect Avenue and West Church Street, only 150 feet from the original site. Last month, the congregation of what is now South Presbyterian Church kicked off its 300th anniversary celebration. The community plans a series of monthly events in 2023 to commemorate its tricentennial, including organ and jazz concerts, history lectures, and a homecoming weekend in October.

"We are honoring the sacrifice and devotion of the many generations that came before us," said the church's current pastor, the Rev. Osvaldo Nüesch. Over the past three centuries, "the church has had a tremendous influence on the moral and ethical development of people."

The building will be getting a makeover to mark the milestone, with a coat of fresh paint, new air conditioning and its first restroom in three centuries, he said. The pipe organ has also recently been refurbished.

The original 1720s church structure was used until the American Revolution, when it fell into disrepair due to the war. In 1799, parishioners built the current Gothic revival style structure in red sandstone. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Today, it has the distinction of being Bergen County's second-oldest church of its kind, Adriance said.

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"It's one of only two of the stone church buildings in Bergen County that date back to the 1700s," he said. The other is the First Reformed Church in Hackensack, also known as the Church on the Green, which was founded in 1686, Adriance said.

Several other Bergen County congregations date back to the 1700s, including Ponds Reformed Church in Oakland (1710), the Old Paramus Reformed Church in Ridgewood (1725), Saddle River Reformed Church in Upper Saddle River (1784) and Ramapo Reformed Church in Mahwah (1785).

South Presbyterian's building has been enlarged and modernized over the years, as candles gave way to oil and electric lighting. Heating systems — first coal and then oil and gas — were installed in 1908. Still, the church is so old that there are no bathrooms: Worshippers used to use an outhouse; now, the roughly 50 people who show up in person for Sunday services use the church house facilities across the street.

In 1801, opposing factions split the church, with one group leaving to form the North Schraalenburgh (now Dumont) Reformed Church. Membership at the Bergenfield church has dwindled from 500 in 1950 to about 116.

In 1913, the remaining worshippers at the Dutch Reformed Church decided to unite with a local Presbyterian church and rechristened it South Presbyterian Church.

The church gained notoriety due to an early pastor, the Rev. John Henry Goetschius, who challenged the tenets of the religious establishment in the pre-Revolutionary period. Goetschius was also a principal founder of Queens College, the school that became Rutgers University, Adriance said.

Goetschius, Revolutionary War soldiers and parishioners dating back to 1720s are buried in the cemetery at the side of the church.

Yet the church is more than a museum, said Lora Schade, who was baptized there and has remained active in the church community throughout her life.

"We are a home church for many people," said Schade, 60, who lives in Bergenfield. "We are an active-mission congregation that runs programs to help people. When you think about how far back we go, it gives you a feeling of community. Everyone here knows everybody. We sit in the same pews every Sunday."

Juli Nüesch , the pastor's wife, noted that the church was built in the typical Dutch Reformed style. "It's very simple on the inside, with stained-glass windows but white pews. Everything is very clean, without decoration. Dutch Reformed folks were simple people who wanted the focus on worship, rather than the building."

"I come from England, where 300 years is no big deal," she said. "But in America, it's a very big deal. To think of all the people who have been here and the spiritual impact it has had on so many people is something very meaningful."

Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: yellin@northjersey.com

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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergenfield NJ South Presbyterian Church celebrating 300th anniversary