The town of Ocean Grove, New Jersey, is under fire again, this time facing pressures to open its beach on Sunday mornings, a time when it's historically been closed.
For generations, the privately owned seaside town known as "God's Square Mile" has kept its beach closed on Sunday mornings up until 12 noon so that its residents can attend church and engage in religious worship. The area of Ocean Grove was founded on Christian values.
Now, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has put Ocean Grove in the hot seat by issuing a warning letter stating the town is disobeying the law by cutting off access to the ocean and wet sand — which is public property.
The warning letter, sent to the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA) on Aug. 7, reads, "The Permitee cannot limit vertical or horizontal public access to any dry sand beach area covered under this permit nor interfere with the public's right to free use of the dry sand for intermittent recreational purposes connected with the ocean and wet sand."
"The activities involve the use of chain and padlock barriers to deter public access to the beach during daylight hours," the warning claimed.
The NJDEP shared the letter, along with the response by OGCMA President Michael Badger, in an email to Fox News Digital.
The response, sent on Aug. 13, explained that the beach is restricted only during 15 seasonal Sundays.
It still allows public access to the shoreline.
"The outcome of the step closure enhances [the] religious and secular quality of life experiences in Ocean Grove, which society recognizes as valuable," Badger wrote in the note, which was sent to Robert Clark, regional supervisor of the state's Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement.
"During this 0.5% of the year, the view of the ocean from the OGCMA’s boardwalk and pier is of sublime natural beauty without the visual elements of beach umbrellas, tents and masses of people," he added.
Badger spoke about the reason for the beach closure in an interview with Fox News Digital, detailing the importance of furthering Ocean Grove's tradition and respecting religious observation.
"It creates a quieter, less stressful environment," he said. "It's in keeping with the historic charm that is characteristic of Ocean Grove and differentiates us from our neighboring communities."
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"There's less traffic in the streets. It's slightly easier to get parking," Badger went on. "You don't have the Italian ice and ice cream trucks going up and down the street."
It also grants Ocean Grove's lifeguards half a day off, he said — and allows people to attend church.
"Overall, it's improving the quality of life that benefits both secular and religious intentions," he said.
Ocean Grove has had its beach closed on Sundays from 9 a.m. to noon between Memorial Day and Labor Day for a couple of decades, Badger shared.
Before that, the city closed its beach all day on Sundays.
OGCMA is a private, religiously affiliated nonprofit that has owned the land in Ocean Grove — including the near-half-mile beach, boardwalk and pier — for 154 years, according to Badger.
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Ocean Grove is also home to the longest-serving lifeguard corps in the state of New Jersey.
Badger said the state's push to open the beach on Sunday mornings would be an "infringement" of Ocean Grove's private property rights.
Other beaches and privately owned businesses on the Jersey Shore have even "more restrictive" rules than Ocean Grove's three-hour closure rule on Sundays — he added, which led him to believe that Ocean Grove is being "singled out."
This assumption follows pushback from opposition groups like Neptune United, a "nonpartisan, community advocacy organization" that has repeatedly called out OGCMA for its alleged "history of discrimination" and "religious radicalization."
The organization has referred to several of the camp meeting’s governing decisions as "radical religious actions." This has included the cross symbol on its beach badges and the cross-shaped pier project that was opened to the public in April 2023.
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The cross symbol has appeared on the community’s beach badges five times within the last 10 years; beachgoers are required to wear them for admittance.
The 2022 beach badge is the first one to display the OGCMA’s full name, "Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association," which Neptune United has also publicly criticized.
The pier’s religious intent makes it "problematic for the secular" Neptune Township, according to Neptune United’s website.
Badger told Fox News Digital that it's "clear" in Neptune United's literature that it is an "anti-Christian" group.
"[They] think a religious organization should not have this much influence over the beach that we own," he said.
Members of the opposition group have gathered on the beach in protest for several consecutive Sundays to push for the beach's opening. The protest on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend had the biggest turnout of the summer.
"Over 140 people defiantly trespassed by stepping over or under the chain at the closed entrances," Badger said.
During a protest on Aug. 27, group members promoted a campaign to have Ocean Grove's tax exemption status revoked, said Badger.
"The power to tax is the power to destroy," he said.
"It's troubling that when it is known that the people who are seeking to get this reversed are doing it for anti-Christian sentiments, the regulation would be applied unequally compared to other beaches," he went on.
Pastor Raphael Giglio, founding and lead pastor of North Shore Fellowship in Monmouth County, New Jersey, said he considers the move to open Ocean Grove's beach on Sunday mornings an act of oppression.
"I believe it's oppressive to religious organizations," the Ocean Grove-based pastor said during an interview with Fox News Digital.
"I suspect that if we weren't a religious organization, they'd be less vehemently opposed to us … They're taking direct shots at our beliefs."
Thousands of worshipers attend services at the two Ocean Grove churches each Sunday, Giglio noted.
"The town is filled with Christian worshipers who have no problem with the late opening of the beach," he said.
Actually, the pastor added, "they expect it, because it's been the case for over 100 years."
Backlash is "not unexpected," he said, but the opposition goes against the Ocean Grove founders' mission to build a community where "spiritual birth, growth and renewal" can thrive.
"The Camp Meeting Association has really opened its arms wider to non-Methodist ministers like myself," Giglio said.
"And I think this spiritual resurgence has caused the opposition to … counter with creating … dissension or static or maybe even wreaking havoc on … the peace of Sunday morning."
Ocean Grove should not be treated "any differently" than any other private beach, campus or community, the pastor said.
"We do want to be heard and be respected for our traditions, none of which are exclusionary," he said.
Giglio said he hopes the ordeal will conclude with "justice, fairness and respect."
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"I think that if you lease land or visit private property that has a specific purpose for a religion or culture, you need to respect that religion or culture," he said.
Neptune United also complained about a wooden cross that is displayed on the beach sand dune facing eastward from the Boardwalk Pavilion, the town’s beach info boards that display the "Scripture of the Day," and the large illuminated cross displayed on the front of the Great Auditorium along Pilgrim Pathway, according to statements on its website.
Neptune United's site also noted that the camp meeting is not associated with any specific church, but argues that these examples show a disregard for the separation of church and state and are unwelcoming to "all religious and secular believers."
Despite the potential for NJDEP to issue Ocean Grove a notice of violation, Badger said that residents are adamant about preserving the community's mission.
"We are desperately praying and trying to find ways to preserve what we have and not put people in danger," he said.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association has had a longstanding relationship with the NJDEP. In 2021, OGCMA filed an application for its cross-shaped pier, which was later approved.
Neptune United did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment by publication time.
The NJDEP declined to provide additional comment.
