But larger numbers came from the southwest. German Moravians and Lutherans came from Bethlehem and Easton, while the Scottish Presbyterians and the English Episcopalians came from as far as Philadelphia.
The Methodists came late. Although the great Missionary, Bishop Francis Asbury, had preached at the courthouse on August 24, 1784, and again in 1799 and 1803, it was not until his final visit to Newton, May 15, 1811, that he could write, "I preached at Sussex Courthouse, and felt as if my labour was not in vain; the minds of the people were open for the reception of the truth."
He was right. A Sussex Circuit was formed in 1811, two small groups began to meet in the Newton area at the homes of James Iliff, in Andover Township, and Gilbert Ingersoll, on the Swartswood road. By September 27, 1831, there were enough Newton Methodists for the formal incorporation of The Methodist Episcopal Church of Newton, with seven trustees: James Iliff, Samuel Ingersoll, Lewis M. DeCamp, Dr. Francis Moran, Azariah Davis, Ira Beach and John H. Hall, President.
This was a group of men already distinguished locally. They were alike in their middle-class background, their willingness to take a chance, and their Christian commitment. They were unlike in the wide diversity of their occupations: Iliff and Ingersoll were farmers; DeCamp, a former sheriff, was a tavernkeeper; Davis ran a store at Springdale; Moran (who was to have a street named for him) was a physician and what we would call today a "social activist." John Hall was at one time or another, county judge, county clerk, a Presidential elector, but all the time he was a publisher of the Sussex Register, the county's leading weekly.
Despite a determined campaign, it was not until 1834 that the trustees could raise the money - after all, it would cost $2000! - for the first church building. In the meantime the new congregation met in the courthouse.
The first church structure was on Division Street and was a frame building 36 x 48 feet. It was to house the congregation until 1861, during part of which time its basement served as a private school and also as a meeting place for the county courts while the burned courthouse was being rebuilt in the 1840's.
During the twenty-seven years on Division Street at least thirty-eight pastors served the Newton church, The explanation is that Newton was usually part of one circuit or another.
Sometimes there were eighteen -preaching points on the circuit, and both senior and junior pastors were appointed, never for more than two years.
One of the legendary pastors of the earliest days was George Banghart, who for 60 of his 88 years roamed the hills of northwestern New Jersey preaching in homes, fields, and tents, and organizing churches. He was as instrumental as any in the organization of this church. "Father" Banghart ("Father" was a frequent badge of affection for Methodist ministers in those days) was a powerful preacher, widely known, greatly loved.
The young church struggled. There were four factors hindering growth: Local economy was in the doldrums and people were moving west, pastors kept changing, many of the congregation lived outside Newton, the Division Street location was an unfortunate one. Twenty-five years after its beginning, with three congregations (Newton, Andover, Tranquility), the Newton charge was paying its senior pastor but $450 a year and a parsonage and its junior pastor $100 a year. That first parsonage, purchased in 1840 and assessed for $1500, bore a mortgage on which the payments were a constant burden to Newton Methodists.
Conditions changes some in the 1850's. Although a westward moving population kept Sussex County from growing, Newton started to expand when the railroad arrived, and the church grew with it. In 1856 the congregation began planning for a new church home.
After many delays the new Park Place building was completed and the dedication service was held Saturday, March 23, 1861 in a blinding snowstorm. The Civil War was to begin in another month. Total cost of land and building, $11,200. Outside the new church looked pretty much as we remember it, but inside it was to undergo extensive changes in the 1890's. The 1862 Annual conference was held in the new church and housing and feeding 150 ministers for nearly a week amid wartime distractions and shortages was a monumental task for a small congregation and a town of 4,000. But folks of other churches opened their homes too, and the affair came off well.
Present at that conference was James N. Fitzgerald, who was to come to Newton twice more, as pastor and as district superintendent who made his headquarters here. Years later he was to become Bishop Fitzgerald, the only pastor so far to attain that office. During his sojourn here he learned to love Sussex County and wrote a poetic tribute to the natural beauties of this section of the state.
The twenty years 1890-1910 were especially fruitful for the Newton Church both spiritually and temporally, Temporal progress is easier to measure; a remodeled church interior in 1892, the purchase of a Park Place lot next to the church in 1895, a new parsonage on the corner of Church and High streets in 1898, a new organ in 1904. There is no yardstick for spiritual growth, but numbers may hint at what was happening; a church membership of 447 in 1890 reached a high of 740 in 1904. Newton was the largest church in the district. The Sunday School grew rapidly. A large young people's program was working.
For fifty years after 1910 the church struggled with inadequate facilities at Park Place. The basement had to be rebuilt for a Sunday School room in 1910, the sanctuary had to be redecorated and carpeted, and a new organ was needed by 1913. Fifteen years later a leaking roof caused and severe and expensive damage to the organ. Most pressing of all was the need for a new parsonage and in 1926 the congregation bought the present residence - fourth in the church's history - for $17,500. The church school was still inadequate and the purchase of the Arvis property behind the church on High Street solved only a part of the problem. The Park Place building was poorly adapted for modern-day worship and program. Parking in midtown was difficult. The congregation had largely moved away from the neighborhood.
Beginning in 1956, plans were drawn up for enlargement and improvement. By 1961 they were far enough advanced and enough money had been raised to begin the remodeling. Suddenly the Newton Trust Company came forward with an offer. They would pay $150,000 for the entire church property on Park Place and High Street.
To leave one's home after one hundred years was a difficult decision. Compelling as were the practical reasons for going, the emotional ties were very strong. And even with the Trust Company's nest egg, the financial burdens would be great. Finally the congregation chose to leave the old church and to build a new home where we now are.
Events moved rapidly once the decision was made. The cornerstone was laid November 25, 1962. Then, on September 15, 1963, Newton Methodists met in the old sanctuary for a closing ceremony, and with Christian and American Flags flying marched up Main Street and out Ryerson Avenue to the new church. Here they were greeted by a familiar sound - the old church bell had been moved to the new tower.
With this third building a new chapter in the long history of Newton's Methodist began. Much has changed since Division Street times - women and men are allowed to sit together in church services these days! But nothing real has changed. The fundamental purpose of the church in Division Street and in Park Place is now written in stone on the cornerstone at Ryerson Avenue. It is God's word spoken through Isaiah,
"My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people."