A step back in time to reflect and renew

Baptist hymns wafted over the pastoral setting where Ye Olde Yellow Meeting House seemed posed in another time to welcome visitors into peaceful reflection on Sunday.

Bonnie Gunzleman leads the choir during the 95th reunion celebration at Ye Olde Yellow Meeting House in Upper Freehold on July 25. SCOTT FRIEDMAN Since 1737, the meeting house has been a place where Baptists could worship God and study his word in a country atmosphere. Baptists were among the earliest settlers in the state, and the meeting house, located off Red Valley Road in Upper Freehold, is one of the oldest and best preserved in New Jersey, according to Bill Wentzien, chaplain of the Friends of Ye Olde Yellow Meeting House.

The organization that has worked for almost a century preserving the 18-acre site, which includes the recently restored church and historic cemetery, held its 95th anniversary service July 25. The Friends have been hosting an annual reunion on the last Sunday of July since 1915.

“It’s nice to come and sit and get away from the world and renew my faith to the Lord,” Wentzien said.

Parishioners dressed in their Sunday best from the Upper Freehold Baptist Church in Imlaystown, the Memorial Baptist Church in Yardville, the First Baptist Church in Allentown and other congregations enjoyed breakfast beneath a canopy set among the trees. The service, which is one out of three that take place at the site throughout the year, started at 11 a.m. The Rev. Frederick Staton Bentley Jr., pastor of the Upper Freehold Baptist Church, climbed the steep steps to the pulpit, located above the first level of windows in the old structure. He welcomed all those in attendance and provided the invocation and responsive reading. Wentzien, who said he felt closer to heaven on the high pulpit, led the pastoral and offertory prayers.

The Rev. Elmo D. Familiaran, associate regional pastor of American Baptist Churches of New Jersey, started his message “Raging Wind, Gentle Spirit” by stating, “The last time I remember being so high up on a pulpit was in the ’80s in Chicago in a Lutheran Church, where I had to climb a spiral staircase. I hope you don’t get stiff necks listening to me. I hope I don’t pass out up here because of my fear of heights.”

The pulpit is set high amid violet-tinted walls and white pews. The room remains unadorned, with candles in the windows, lace doilies on flat surfaces and gas lamps as the only embellishments. Those inside tried to sit in the oscillating wind of a single electric fan or used handheld fans to keep the oppressing heat at bay. Many remained in the shade outdoors listening to the sermon over a loud speaker and hoping to feel a cool breeze.

Familiaran said things slow down in the summer, a time between Pentecost and Advent when the church reflects on its meaning and purpose.

“Pentecost is given the least attention of all the other seasons and festivities,” he said. “Pentecost is attached to the summer