Our History

The story of the First United Methodist Church of Toms River dates back to 1828…over 180 years of faith, history, and heritage!

In May of 1828 the Methodists built the first church building in Toms River, which stood in the “Old Burying Ground” currently on the southeast corner of Washington Street and Hooper Avenue.  In 1851 the Board of Trustees was first legally incorporated as the official body of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Toms River.  For 25 years “The House” held a weekly service where sermons were preached, scriptures were read, prayers were offered, songs were sung, shouts of joy and “Amen” were heard, and people were converted at the simple altar. 

Then in 1854 the second and much needed larger church building was finished and dedicated and was on the northwest corner of Washington Street and Hooper Avenue.  The new church was said to be more pretentious than the first.  The steeple held the town’s first church bell (cast in 1853 in Troy, New York).  It rang at 8:45 and 9:45am every Sunday morning and before evening services on Thursdays. (See top picture of this church to left.)

Our third house of worship was built next to the parsonage, on the southwest corner of Washington Street and Hooper Avenue and dedicated in 1875.  By this time, we had been on three of the four corners of that intersection!  The pews on the main floor seated about 250 people.  The bell from the second church was moved to the new 12x12 foot bell tower with its 80-foot spire.  (See bottom picture of this church to left.)

In 1968 the Evangelical United Brethren and the Methodist churches voted to merge.  We became First United Methodist Church of Toms River!  We were once again over-crowded and looking to build a larger church.  So, in 1969 the property on Old Freehold Road and Chestnut Street was purchased and the church on Hooper and Washington was put up for sale. 

Easter Sunday 1975 was a glorious day in our church history.  It was the first service attended in our current 129 Chestnut Street church building.  Over 1,000 people attended that first Sunday! It is 34 years later at the "Church with the lighted steeple and the friendly people" and we continue to grow…

In 2005 our new addition, the Family Life Center, opened its doors to the community. It was a much needed all-purpose room, equipped with a stage, bathrooms, storage and a much larger kitchen area, and it also allowed us to expand our parking facilities which were becoming regularly crammed on Sunday mornings. The building can easily accommodate 400 people and currently houses our growing Contemporary Worship Service as well as other special events.