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The First Methodist Church of Mt. Ephraim, New Jersey is a group of believers in Jesus Christ and not a church building. However, in tracing the history of a church congregation, the history of the building fairly well coincides with the aspirations of that congregation.
Mount Ephraim, New Jersey is a small borough of about one square mile in an area located about five miles from the center of Camden. In the early days Mt. Ephraim was a stage coach stop on the Black Horse Pike (a road to Atlantic City) and Kings Highway (a well traveled road in colonial times). The borough is bounded by the Boroughs of Audubon, Haddon Heights, Bellmawr, and the city of Gloucester. Currently most of the lots are occupied and the only way that a new house may be built is to demolish an existing home and replace it with a new building, which has happened several times recently.
Early in this century, a group of believers met in each others homes to worship. On June 24, 1904, a deed was registered for a lot on the corner of Sixth and New Jersey Avenues. The lot was given by Mr. Jacob Daubman for the use of a church building. A church was organized under the name of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Northmount, making it a part of the Methodist Episcopal Denomination. During the summer of 1906 the church met on Black Horse Pike in a store which was destroyed by fire. By this time the building fund had reached a total of $478.00 and the congregation decided to build a church on the donated lot. On November 11, 1906, the building was dedicated by Dr. George H. Neal, entirely debt free! At that time the church membership totaled 19 and Sunday School attendance averaged 35.
By 1931, when the 25th anniversary was celebrated, the membership totaled 76 and the average Sunday School attendance was 205. Meantime a new church building was being constructed on the corner of Eighth and Centre Avenues, the location of our present building. In 1947, a parsonage was built on the New Jersey Avenue side of the church and was ready for occupancy by Rev. John Ewing and his family later that year.
In 1955, the church membership had grown to approximately 270 members with a Sunday School attendance of around 250. This prompted the building of an educational wing on the north and backside of the church building. On Palm Sunday, April 3, 1955, the corner stone was inserted into the completed building by District Superintendent, Franklin Buck and our minister, Russell Shivers.
In 1958, two more phases of the building program were completed, enlarging and remodeling the sanctuary and refinishing the exterior with brick to match the educational building. At that time the membership totaled 268 with a Sunday School attendance 255.
Finally in 1968, a four bedroom two story brick parsonage was completed and located adjacently on the corner of New Jersey and Seventh Avenues. Rev. C. Ross Collins and his family were the first of many families to occupy the parsonage. The original parsonage was sold and moved down eighth Avenue, across the railroad tracks to a location on South Oak Avenue.
Last Updated:
February 7, 1997