Cross-Shaped Pier To Move Forward Despite Opposition In Ocean Grove

OCEAN GROVE, NJ — Construction is still scheduled to begin Sept. 12 on a controversial pier shaped like a cross in Ocean Grove.

This comes after some Ocean Grove residents are angry about the public pier, saying it is exclusionary to non-Christians, comes off as "Christian bullying" and blurs the line between the separation of church and state, or in this case, the municipal government of a tiny Jersey Shore beach town.

Also, Jamie Jackson, the chief operating officer of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, told News 12 his group makes “no apology for that we love the fact that it looks like a cross. This is a religious town founded as such and most people are excited we will be able to have this pier shaped this way for these purposes."

Ocean Grove is a tiny Jersey Shore town just south of Asbury Park. Ocean Grove was originally started as a Methodist summer camp and to this day, a Methodist ministry called the Camp Meeting Association owns all the land in Ocean Grove, including the beach and the area where the pier will be built.

"Look, I think some people think we set out to design a pier that looks like a cross. That was not the case," Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association President Michael Badger told Patch on Tuesday after Jackson's comments. "We did not start out to create a cross-shaped pier to make a statement."

"What we wanted to do was expand access to the water, expand viewing points to look at the Atlantic Ocean and give more fishing spots than the old pier had," he said. "But as we went along, we realized it looked like a cross and that seemed pretty cool to us. We recognize the shape and we are very excited to present it to the community. We do celebrate our faith."

There are Christian symbols throughout civic spaces and town squares in Ocean Grove, said Badger, and he's proud of that. He said he's also proud of the fact that the pier will be entirely open to the public.

But Shane Martins, an Ocean Grove resident who takes issue with the pier, said the bigger issue is that "for several years Badger and Jackson have made decisions impacting our community, despite the fact that they are not elected by the people. Instead, they are appointed by a Board of Trustees, all of whom are required to ‘be and remain members of the United Methodist Church in good and regular standing.'"

According to Martins, there is an overall "lack of transparency" in the way the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association operates, "making decisions that affect all of Ocean Grove, without even discussing with residents."

The pier is on private property owned by the Camp Meeting Association, but it will be open to the public, without a fee. (The pier it is replacing was partly occupied by a members-only fishing club, and was not entirely open to the public.)

Badger said the pier renderings have been available for the past three years online on their fundraising page, American Treasure, but Martins said the engineering renderings were only submitted to the state starting in September of 2021.

"When was the 'public comment period' and what did Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association do to notify residents of said period?" said Martins. "I am concerned that in Ocean Grove, government and religion are so inextricably intertwined as to be inseparable from one another ... violat[ing] both the letter and spirit of the First Amendment. Therefore, I call on our local leaders, those who are actually elected, to get involved and conduct an investigation immediately, before the potential violation of the constitutional rights of thousands of their constituents. I hope our local leaders will be on the right side of history.”

The mayor of Ocean Grove is Nick Williams; he has not weighed in on the pier.

Martins said he has asked the ACLU, operating from their Newark office, to look into the pier. Badger said as far as he knows, there have been no legal filings or injunctions filed against the new pier.

Original Patch report last week: Pier In Shape Of Cross Stirs Up Anger In Jersey Shore Town (Aug. 22)