The former Presbytery of Newton is now part of the Presbytery of the Highlands of New Jersey as of March 1, 2021. [1] [2]
The Presbytery of Newton was a regional governing body for Presbyterian congregations located in northwestern New Jersey and affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Established in 1817 to oversee congregations in northwestern New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania, the Presbytery of Newton included 59 member churches located in the counties of Sussex, Morris, Warren and Hunterdon. The Presbytery of Newton was part of the Synod of the Northeast, which oversees churches in New Jersey, New York, and the New England states.
Aside from these 59 member churches and the presbytery's various mission projects (domestic and overseas), the Presbytery of Newton was also connected to the Johnsonburg Camp and Retreat Center in Johnsonburg, New Jersey, and a private preparatory school, Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey.
The Presbytery of Newton was created in October 1817 during a convention of the Synod of New York and New Jersey in October 1817. [3] : p.13 It was decided to divide the northern territory of the Presbytery of New Brunswick into a new presbytery. [3] : p.13 The original boundary of the Presbytery of Newton was determined to run from the Delaware River north of Lambertville, New Jersey, including all of Hunterdon, Morris and Sussex Counties (which then included present-day Warren County and stretched west to the ridge of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania including most of Northampton and Monroe counties. [3] : p.15–16 At that time, the Presbytery of Newton included 24 churches—in New Jersey the congregations at Knowlton, Hardwick, Marksboro, Newton, Hackettstown, German Valley, Fox Hill, Lamington, Baskingridge, Bethlehem, Kingwood, Alexandria, Greenwich, Harmony, Oxford, Mansfield, Pleasant Grove, Flemington, Amwell 1st and 2nd; and in Pennsylvania 4 congregations at Easton, Lower Mount bethel, Upper Mount Bethel and Smithfield. These 24 congregations shared 9 full-time pastors. [3] : p.18–19 Several of the congregations stemmed from ethnic German congregations, including German Valley and Knowlton—communities that were first settled by Palatine Germans and affiliated with either the German Reformed or Lutheran faiths. In 1823, a German and Dutch Reformed congregation at Stillwater (founded in 1769) was received by the Presbytery. [3] : p.19
Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. According to the 2020 census, the county was the state's 19th-most populous county, with a population of 109,632, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 940 (+0.9%) from the 2010 census count of 108,692, which in turn reflected an increase of 6,255 (+6.1%) from 102,437 counted at the 2000 census. The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.
Sussex County is the northernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Newton. It is part of the New York metropolitan area and is part of New Jersey's Skylands Region. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's 17th-most-populous county, with a population of 144,221, a decrease of 5,044 (−3.4%) from the 2010 census count of 149,265, which in turn reflected an increase of 5,099 (+3.5%) over the 144,166 persons at the 2000 census. Based on 2020 census data, Vernon Township was the county's largest in both population and area, with a population of 22,358 and covering an area of 70.59 square miles (182.8 km2). The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.
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The Pequest River is a 35.7-mile-long (57.5 km) tributary of the Delaware River in the Skylands Region in northwestern New Jersey in the United States.
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The Stillwater Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) located in the village of Stillwater in Stillwater Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, in the United States. It is a member of the Presbytery of the Highlands. Founded in 1769 as a union church shared by members of the Reformed and Lutheran faiths, the parish, now Presbyterian, closed in 2019.
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The former Presbytery of New Brunswick is now part of the Coastlands Presbytery as of March 1, 2021
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Mount Freedom Presbyterian Church is a historic Christian house of worship affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and located at the intersection of Sussex Turnpike and Church Road in the Mount Freedom section of Randolph Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. This congregation was overseen by the Presbytery of Newton. This church was closed for a few years. It is now Faithfulness Church, a Chinese Protestant Church.
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The First Presbyterian Church of Newton is a Christian house of worship affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) located in the Town of Newton in Sussex County, New Jersey. This congregation, established in the 1780s, is overseen by the Highlands Presbytery.
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Christ Church, also known as Christ Episcopal Church, is a Christian house of worship located on the corner of Church Street and Main Street in Newton, New Jersey. It is a parish overseen by the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The congregation first met on 28 December 1769 and was granted a charter by New Jersey's last Royal Governor William Franklin on behalf of Britain's King George III. Christ Church is the oldest church in Newton and the third oldest parish in the Diocese of Newark.
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