PARISH HISTORY

When Morris Country was formed in 1739, there were only two settlers per square mile in these Jersey Highlands. At that time, farms were beginning to appear in the midst of dense forests.

Catholicism in these parts was nurtured by one of the earliest Catholic missionaries, Reverend Ferdinand Steinmeyer, S.J., popularly known as “Father Farmer”.

A Pioneer Priest

Father Farmer traveled over roads that followed the footpaths of the Leni-Lenape Indians. One of these Indian trails became a wagon road and was named the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike. Another trail became the Newark-Pompton Turnpike. Father Farmer brought Catholics in northern New Jersey the solace of their Church, celebrating Mass in their homes, baptizing infants, marrying Catholics.

It is a matter of historical record that once every year for over 20 years Father Farmer visited the area around Echo Lake and Pompton Lakes. These visits lasted from 1765 to 1786. The first Mass in Echo Lake was celebrated in 1765. Father Farmer's priestly labors came to an end, for he died in Philadelphia in August, 1786, after almost 30 years of missionary work in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

Early Missionaries

In the years immediately following the pioneering efforts of Father Farmer, priests came on occasion from New York City to carry on the work, for Catholics were then under the charge of the Diocese of New York. But priests were few, travel was difficult, and the area was large. When St. John's Parish was established (and then became the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist) in Paterson in 1820, priests from that church visited Catholics in our area.

Later, in 1880, the Franciscan Fathers were given charge of St. Anthony's Church in Butler, with missionary responsibilities in this part of New Jersey. These devoted missionaries had come from Germany seeking refuge from the stringent policies of Bismarck and finding a new field of labor in our friendly hills.

Twentieth Century Changes

In 1928, the Paulist Fathers bought 1,300 acres in Oak Ridge. Catholics in the area attended Mass in their chapel and benefited from the administrations of the Paulist Fathers.

The New Diocese

In 1937, the Diocese of Paterson was formed to foster the growth of Catholicism in northern New Jersey. Population was increasing in the cities, and the highlands and the Lake country was attracting summer residents in large numbers. Most Reverend Thomas H. McLaughlin, S.T.D., L.L.D., was named Bishop of Paterson on December 16, 1937, with jurisdiction over the Counties of Passaic, Morris, and Sussex.

The New Parish

The new parish of St. Simon the Apostle in Green Pond was decreed on April 1, 1946, by Bishop McLaughlin. Reverend John J. McKenna had been saying Mass in Green Pond as administrator for six months, and he was appointed founding pastor responsible also for the mission at Cozy Lake.

The First Church

The first church was built at Green Pond in 1946. The church was solidly built on cinder block with a stucco exterior at a cost of $22,600.

Milton-Oak Ridge Mission

There had been an early mission in Cozy Lake attended by Father Vogt. When the gasoline restrictions of World War II made it difficult for Catholics in that area to drive to Butler or to Echo Lake, Mr. And Mrs. Edward Gorman offered Father Vogt a store which they owned in Milton, inviting him to celebrate Sunday Masses there.

In the meantime, however, Bishop McLaughlin had made the area a mission of the diocesan priests at Sacred Heart Church in Rockaway. Father Vogt referred the Gormans to Father Romanak, the pastor of Sacred Heart. Father Romanak gladly accepted Mrs. Gorman's offer, and during the summer of 1942 he celebrated Mass in this store on Cozy Lake Road, Milton. The building still stands. Later it became Frieda's Delicatessen, which is today a private home near Camp Noyota.

From 1943 to 1947 summer Masses in Milton were held in the Cozy Lake Club House, but, unfortunately, the building caved in during a blizzard in the winter of 1947.

During 1948 and 1949, Mass was celebrated during the summer months in Demski's Tavern in Oak Ridge; today this is the Eastern Propane Garage near the Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Harry Demski's generous offer of her tavern involved not a little sacrifice and work on her part. Because the dance hall section was used for Mass, Mrs. Demski and her daughters had to transform the hall every Saturday night after dancing was over. They screened off the bar with drapes and worked hard and long every Saturday after midnight to make the room ready for Sunday morning Masses.

By now Milton was growing, and it seemed more promising than Marcella for the location of a new church. So Father McKenna sold a parcel of land which the parish had purchased in Marcella and purchased four-and-a-half acres at the corner of Berkshire Valley Road and Milton Road for $3,900.

At this point, the Mission of St. Thomas the Apostle in Milton, subject to St. Simon the Apostle in Green Pond, was established. This was mid-1949.

Milton-Oak Ridge Church

In September of 1949, Father McKenna started planning for a new church in Milton.

By the spring of 1950, the church was complete. The building was 60 feet long and 25 feet wide, of cinder block, with a stucco exterior. The cost was $27,000, a reasonable figure in those days though building costs were skyrocketing.

The seating capacity of the church was 160. It is estimated that on the first Sunday in June of 1950, 30 families attended Mass at the new Church of St. Thomas the Apostle in Milton. At first there was only one Mass on Sunday, but within a few years, two Masses became necessary.

The first visit of a diocesan bishop to Oak Ridge occurred that summer of 1950 when Paterson's second bishop, Most Reverend Thomas A. Boland, S.T.D., came to St. Thomas to dedicate the new church. It is notable, in view of the population increase to come, that there were only five persons present at the ceremony besides the bishop and his attending priests.

In July of 1954, after serving as our founding pastor for eight years, Father McKenna was transferred to Our Lady of the Lake Church in Sparta.

Population Growth

About 1958, the great emigration from the cities began and newcomers settled in ever-larger numbers so that St. Thomas spurted in growth. In 1961, when Father Flek was transferred to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Boonton, St. Thomas had a population much larger than St. Simon's in Green Pond.

Important Changes

At the same time, Most Reverend James J. Navagh, D.D., L.L.D., the fourth Bishop of Paterson, appointed Reverend Edward R. Phalon to be new pastor at St. Thomas. Father Phalon took up residence in Green Pond on October 8, 1963.

Father Phalon was born in Paterson and baptized in one of its notable churches - St. Joseph's. He attended St. Joseph's Grammar School in Paterson and St. Mary's High School in Rutherford. He continued his education at Seton Hall College, where he earned his B.A. degree. Next, he attended Conception Seminary in Darlington and the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he gained his S.T.L. Degree in 1948. On May 22, 1948, he was ordained to the priesthood in St. John's Cathedral, Paterson , by Bishop Boland.

Father Phalon was then appointed as associate pastor in his home parish, St. Joseph's Paterson, where he had been baptized. For 15 years Father Phalon served in this parish of his birth until October 8, 1963, when he was appointed pastor of St. Thomas Parish.

With the experience gained during his uniquely long tenure in a large, heavily populated parish. Father Phalon set himself to study his new district and the needs of his parishioners.

Father Phalon had no curate assigned to the parish, but when he needed priestly assistance, members of the religious communities in the vicinity were helpful - the Benedictine Fathers from St. Paul Abbey in Newton, the Paulish Fathers from the Paulish Novitiate in Oak Ridge, and the Capuchin Fathers from their monastery also in Oak Ridge.

The Milton-Oak Ridge Renovation

Something had be done, the old church was too small, seating only 160, with standing room for about 40 more persons. In the summer, overflow of worshippers stood outside for Mass on the steps of the church.

The New “Porch”

The men of the parish, amateur workers all, became carpenters and masons and roofers. They added a “porch” to the church, opening an entire wall to face Berkshire Valley Road, constructing a wide, low extension with many windows and a wide church entrance.

When the famous porch was completed, the church could accommodate a total of 400 persons, sitting and standing, even though, it seemed to be bulging at the seams during Mass.

It was during this time that the altar was relocated to face the people in accordance with the recommendations of Vatican Council II. Mass in the vernacular was also introduced, and congregational singing increased the sense of participation in the Church liturgy.

In the meantime, a survey of the parish made in 1966 by novices of the Paulist Novitiate showed 700 families living in the Milton-Oak Ridge area and 100 families in the Green Pond section. Accordingly, Most Reverend Lawrence Casey, the fifth Bishop of Paterson, made the logical decision to declare the Milton-Oak Ridge church the administrative center of the parish with Green Pond its mission.

The New Parish

Thus, the parish was renamed, the old boundaries remaining the same. The new name was “The Parish of St. Thomas the Apostle”, and the Church of St. Simon the Apostle in Green Pond became its mission.

Geography, of course, remains the same, and though the churches are two miles apart as the crow flies across Green Pond Mountain, they are in valleys on opposite sides of the ridge. Their distance apart around the base of the mountain by way or Route 23 is a journey of 10 miles.

In January of 1967, the Pastor, Father Phalon purchased the Smith property adjoining the church on Milton Road. With this purchase, Father Phalon added five acres to the original four-and-a-half acres, and it was evident that the nine-and-a-half site was now large enough to contain a new church and a large parking area with room for future expansion.

Within two weeks, 100 parishioners raised $165,000 in pledges to be paid off in three years. Bishop Casey then gave Father Phalon permission to build a church costing $420,000.

In Conclusion

On Sunday, April 13, 1969, at 10:30, Bishop Casey dedicated the new church at a concelebrated Mass."Pray with gratitude that God may bless all those countless persons, known perhaps but to God, who have given hours, even years, to the effort of making St. Thomas the Apostle Parish bigger, better, and more effective."