‘No apology’ for cross shape for rebuilt Jersey Shore pier, religious group says

Ocean Grove Pier Rendering

Rendering of the redesigned pier in Ocean Grove, courtesy of Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association.

The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association is defending the design of a new pier it plans to build in the Jersey Shore community, despite backlash from some residents who say the structure too closely resembles a Christian cross on a public beach.

The religious nonprofit organization’s chief operating officer, Jamie Jackson, said the group makes “no apology for that we love the fact that it looks like a cross.”

When asked if Jackson’s statement meant the beach pier was, in fact, intentionally designed to look like a Christian cross, Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association President Michael Badger said only, “it did not escape our notice.”

“The symbolism is in cooperation with its effective use,” he said. “Different people will see different things. What the importance of it is, kind of (depends on) your perspective.

“It is obvious to many people what the shape is,” Badger said.

The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a Methodist ministry, is using $1.3 million of its funds and donated money to build the pier and other beachfront facilities.

Under a complex charter, the association has authority over the land, beach and boardwalk in Ocean Grove, which is a small seaside section of Neptune Township in Monmouth County.

Ocean Grove Pier 08/17/2022

The Ocean Grove pier as it currently exists, as of Aug. 17. Photo courtesy of Michael Badger, President of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association.

The new pier, which will be open to the public, did not need to go through local officials for approval. However, some residents who view the design as “Christian bullying” have asked state and local officials to intervene.

The architectural firm for the project, Leon S. Avakian Engineers, did not respond to multiple requests to comment on whether the pier was intentionally designed to be a religious symbol or if it just has a cross design similar to piers in Coney Island and other Shore communities.

Badger said the Camp Meeting Association never intended for the pier to offend or exclude anyone. He also denied the pier had anything to do with Christian nationalism, a term used to describe efforts to put Christian symbols and practices into public spaces.

“There was no idea that this could be perceived as Christian nationalism,” said Badger. “It’s not a part of who the camp meeting association is.”

Christian nationalism is often used to describe the belief that the U.S. was established as an explicitly Christian nation, and that this close relationship with Christianity must be protected, according to research by Joseph Williams, an associate professor of religion at Rutgers University.

“The practical ramifications of such views involve everything from support for laws that codify specific interpretations of Christian morality, to the defense of religious displays on public property, to nativist reactions to non-white, non-Christian immigrants,” Williams told a Rutgers University publication.

The new cross-shaped pier design was unveiled last month at a groundbreaking, drawing criticism from some local officials and members of the LGBTQ+ community. The pier will replace one that was damaged a decade ago during Hurricane Sandy and never replaced.

Christian symbols can already be found all around Ocean Grove.

Beach badges sold by the camp meeting association include a cross, beach umbrellas available for rent are decorated with cross iconography and there’s a cross mounted on the dunes at the beach. When visitors enter Ocean Grove, they are greeted by a sign that reads, “Welcome to Ocean Grove, a Christian seaside resort.”

OCGMA defends cross-shaped pier

A cross on the Ocean Grove beach. Photo taken June 9, 2022.

The pier is just another version of the ‘”holier than thou’ kind of bullying we’re all familiar with here in what some call ‘God’s square mile,’” wrote Ocean Grove resident Doug Grote in an op-ed this week.

“To me, any political power that would appear to bully its captive, vulnerable, secular citizenry into accepting a sectarian cross as the center of its cultural life is a likely human rights violator,” said Grote, a semi-retired Presbyterian pastor. “With the pier’s construction set to begin soon, I fear that my faith’s lovely cross may soon become as toxic as a Trojan horse for Ocean Grove, Asbury Park, and all of New Jersey.”

Grote has the option of bringing a motion to the floor at the next Ocean Grove Home Owners Association meeting on Sept. 17, where he can request a vote on asking the camp meeting association to halt construction of the pier “until matters are investigated, all of its citizenry are consulted, and approve the cross-shaped pier, or not, just like democracy ought to work.”

The Ocean Grove Home Owner’s Association is not affiliated with the Camp Meeting Association and its members include a mix of residents.

If Grote or another resident present a motion and it is successful, the Home Owner’s Association will relay the results to the Camp Meeting Association and urge them to hold off on construction.

“However, OGHOA is not part of the Camp Meeting, and the Camp Meeting is not likely to be swayed by a vote of the members of OGHOA, no matter how decisive,” Joyce Klein, vice-president of the Home Owners Association, said in an email shared with NJ Advance Media.

Construction on the pier is scheduled to begin next month, a week before the Home Owner’s Association meeting.

That’s why Grote and resident Shane Martins are also calling on elected officials to step in.

“For too long, Badger and Jackson’s decision affecting our community have gone unchecked. It is time for our leaders, who are actually elected, to get involved to ensure that the protections afforded to us under the 1st Amendment to the U.S Constitution are not violated,” Martins said.

Not all residents are opposed to the pier project. Some say they don’t mind the design, some embrace the cross symbolism and others are simply happy to see the pier being rebuilt.

“I believe most of (us) here, religious or not, are just profoundly happy that the pier many of us visit daily will soon be made better than before,” said Ocean Grove resident Charlotte Pritchard.

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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.

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