New Jersey
Religious freedom battle erupts as New Jersey town attempts to turn church property into pickleball courts
A New Jersey town has moved to seize a 10-acre church property and turn it into recreational space, outfitted with pickleball courts and soccer fields.
Christ Episcopal Church in Toms River, New Jersey, found itself at the center of a highly charged legal battle after its leaders moved to expand outreach to the area’s homeless population and proposed a 17-bed overnight shelter.
“It didn’t take long for neighbors to become concerned,” Harvey York, the church’s attorney, told Fox News Digital.
On April 30, the Toms River Township Council placed an ordinance on its agenda to condemn the church’s 10-acre site, which includes the parish house, auditorium, school, sanctuary and deacon’s residence, under its eminent domain power.
CHURCH FIGHTS NEW JERSEY TOWN OVER PLANS TO SEIZE PROPERTY AND TURN IT INTO PARK
Christ Episcopal Church in Toms River, New Jersey, where the town is moving to seize the congregation’s 10-acre property. (Good Maps)
The town’s plan is to turn the congregation’s property into a recreational area.
“Any governmental agency has the right to condemn property for governmental purposes. That’s clear. However, the township has never thought of this as a recreational site,” York said. “For them to say they need recreational land flies in the face of the facts and their master plan.”
York and his legal team argue that the move to seize the property is the township’s direct response to the church’s shelter initiative.
“It is clear that this is being done in retaliation for the church making an application for a homeless shelter,” he said, pointing to both the constitutional protections for freedom of religion and the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
“I don’t know that you’ll find a lawyer who will say, ‘Oh, yeah, they have every right to do this; they’re going to win.’”
On April 29, 2025, less than 24 hours before a Toms River Township Council meeting, a concerned community member alerted the leadership of Christ Church that its property had been added to a proposal for an eminent domain ordinance. (iStock/Getty Images)
Despite rising community support, from local congregants to offers of amicus assistance nationwide, reactions remain mixed within the New Jersey town.
“There are people that are thrilled that the mayor is going to condemn the property,” York said, but he believes “the majority of the community is shocked and dismayed.”
BUSINESS OWNERS TAKE ON CITY THEY SAY IS PLAYING ‘MUSICAL CHAIRS’ WITH PROPERTY IN EMINENT DOMAIN CASE
The property of Christ Episcopal Church in Toms River, New Jersey.
As for the church’s next steps, litigation is certain.
“The plan will be decided by the diocese,” York said. “But they certainly will litigate the issue, and I believe it will be successful.”
The church’s attorney said the government should “mind their own business and stay out of the religious affairs of the community.”
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Five or six hearings have taken place, and the next zoning board meeting is scheduled for May 22. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Township of Toms River for comment on the pending litigation and the hearings.
The church originally applied in July 2023 to operate an outreach center for the homeless, an effort that was approved. According to York, their application for the shelter fully complies with local and state regulations.
How to protect your NJ home from wind: Video
Here’s how to windproof your home to minimize damage, and what to do if a tree falls on your property as a result of the weather
A severe thunderstorm watch looms over North Jersey on the evening of June 12 after days of extreme heat.
Nation Weather Service New York declared a severe thunderstorm watch for numerous North Jersey counties including Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, Morris and Sussex among other Central Jersey and New York counties. The watch is in effect until 9 p.m., according to the NWS statement.
In an hourly forecast from The Weather Channel for Paramus, there is a 74% chance of thunderstorms at 7 p.m.
High temperatures reached past 90 degrees in many parts of North Jersey on June 11 and June 12 as a heat advisory also remains in effect until 8 p.m., said NWS New York.
“Dangerous heat is expected to continue across much of our region through today, with several record highs likely to be challenged again. High temperatures are forecast to peak into the low to mid 90s across most of the area,” the National Weather Service said Friday.
A Heat Advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. across the state except for Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties.
PHILADELPHIA – Philip McPherson II, a 37-year-old from Riverside, New Jersey, was sentenced Thursday, June 11, to 78 months in prison for his role in a 2022 plane crash in Lehigh County that killed a student pilot, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Sentencing and charges for fatal Lehigh Valley crash
What we know:
United States District Judge John M. Gallagher sentenced McPherson to 78 months in prison, three years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, a $4,300 special assessment, and $19,530 in restitution. Judge Gallagher also barred McPherson from working in the aviation industry.
McPherson pleaded guilty in October to involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction of an administrative proceeding, and 40 counts of serving as an airman without a certificate.
The backstory:
Court filings show that on September 28, 2022, McPherson took off from Queen City Airport in Allentown as the pilot-in-command with student pilot K.K. and crashed shortly after, resulting in K.K.’s death.
Prosecutors said McPherson acted with gross negligence, knowing he was not competent to fly as pilot-in-command. He had two prior crashes, nearly a third, and failed a reexamination for his pilot’s certificate in September 2021.
McPherson voluntarily surrendered his pilot’s certificate in October 2021 and let his Temporary Airman Certificate expire in November 2021, acknowledging his inability to meet FAA standards.
He admitted to flying with passengers without a valid FAA pilot’s certificate between October 12, 2021, and September 20, 2022.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, FAA, and Salisbury Township Police Department worked on the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Schopf and Special Assistant United States Attorney Marie Miller.
What we don’t know:
Authorities have not released further details about the circumstances leading up to the crash.
The Source: Information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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