Quaker Meetinghouse restoration gets $10K boost
DAR donation funds work on third phase of project
BY SHARON LEFF Staff Writer

Interior of the Quaker Meetinghouse in Shrewsbury

SHREWSBURY — A $10,000 donation will help continue the ongoing restoration of the Shrewsbury Quaker Meetinghouse located at the historic Four Corners.

The Shrewsbury Towne-Monmouth Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) donated $10,000 Dec. 7 toward restoration of the meetinghouse, which is located at the northeast corner of Sycamore Avenue and Broad Street.

Gordon Clark, clerk of buildings and grounds for the Religious Society of Friends, as the Quakers are formally known, said work on the third phase of renovations is under way and a fourth phase is being proposed.

He said the impetus for the renovation is the historical importance of the meetinghouse and its deteriorating condition.

The work has been undertaken due to "recognition by the membership that the meetinghousewas of historic significance, not only to us but the community at large, and [there was a] need to preserve it," he said.

"[It was] at a point where it had to be done or we would lose it because of deterioration," he said.

Clark said the meetinghouse is close to 200 years old. Fundraising to renovate the building has been ongoing for the past three years.

According to Clark, the Quakers have raised $74,000, including the recent donation of $10,000. He said about $500,000 is needed in order to complete all of the desired renovations.

He said some renovations are completed as money comes in.

"We're taking it slow. As money becomes available, we do something on the meetinghouse," he said.

Clark said the Quakers have received two grants from the Monmouth County Historical Commission. With the money they've received, as well the funds they've raised, the church has restored two of the large windows and has redone the soffits and cornices.

He said the next priority

for the renovation is the roof because it leaks. Clark said the members also want to restore more of the windows and doors as well as repaint. Plans also call for restoring the dividing wall between the two sections of the meetinghouse, which had once separated the men from the women.

"[It was] an attempt to give women a place to speak out and be confident speakers in a time when women were prohibited from speaking in public," Clark said.

He said the church was very pleased that the DAR recognized the importance of the meetinghouse.

"We are extremely appreciative of DAR's contribution, and we are very positively surprised and shocked at the amount of money they gave us," Clark said.

Kristine Binaco, chaplain of the DAR Shrewsbury Towne-Monmouth Chapter, said this was the first donation by the DAR to the Quaker Meetinghouse.

She said Clark presented the DAR chapter with a history of the building in October 2007.

"[We were] impressed by their enthusiasm for the restoration project," she said.

Binaco said the DAR shares a lot of the same goals with the Quakers, including patriotism, education and fostering an enlightened opinion. public opinion.

She said the church includes a small congregation with a lot of heart.

"We share with them a great interest of our area and our country," she said.

She said the DAR realizes the effort of the Quakers to preserve the meetinghouse and was fortunate enough to have some money to donate.

"Our membership was fully behind donating this money to them," she said.

The Quaker Meetinghouse history goes all the way back to 1665, when Friends from Long Island, Rhode Island and Cape Cod moved to Shrewsbury and began gathering in homes for worship.

The settlement at Shrewsbury incorporated as Shrewsbury Township in 1667. The Shrewsbury Friends built their first meetinghouse in 1672. It was most likely located in what is now Little Silver, near the train station.

The Shrewsbury group is the oldest continuing Religious Society of Friends in the state, but their meetinghouse is not the oldest in the state. The one in Cape May County is older and smaller, a single-room structure with facing benches.

The Shrewsbury Quaker Meetinghouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1940.

Donations to the restoration of the meetinghouse can be made through the Community Foundation of New Jersey. For more information, call the Religious Society of Friends at 732-741-4138.