St. Luke's Early Years

The history of St. Luke’s parish begins with the missionary zeal and inspiration of the Rev. P. L. Jacques. Rev. Jacques was ordained in St. Luke’s church at Hope, NJ, in 1831, and served there as rector until 1845 when he went to Port Colden. There he opened an active mission which was the foundation of the present St. Peter’s Church of Washington.

In 1852 he moved to Phillipsburg, which then had a population of less than 1000, and was not yet an official town. No post office had as yet been established there. Between 1850 and 1860, railroad development and development of building sites by the newly organized Phillipsburg Land Company, began a new era. As late as 1881, Phillipsburg homes were largely located on South Main Street, between Union Square and the Cooper Iron Works, which afterward became the Andover Furnace Company.

The Rev. Jacques began service in the first school building, on South Main Street near the east end of Mercer Street, in Phillipsburg in 1856. He organized St. Luke’s Parish, and secured a charter. The name, St. Luke’s, was probably selected by the Rev. Jacques in view of his former parish in Hope. The Rev. Jacques made yearly appeals to Bishops Doane and Odenheimer for financial help in his plans for the erection of a church. The panic of 1857 made such financial help difficult, but in 1861, through the efforts of Joseph C. Kent and other members of St. Luke’s parish, together with friends in Easton, funds were secured for the erection of a church building on a lot donated by the Andover Furnace Company.

St. Luke’s Church was erected in memory of the Rev. and Mrs. J. M. Rogers, at a cost of $5,500 and was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. William H. Odenheimer on June 6, 1861. The Rev. Rogers had been rector of Trinity Church, Easton, which Mr. Kent’s family formerly attended. One of Phillipsburg’s most beautiful religious edifices, it was designed by an architect who was sent to England to prepare plans based on an ancient church there. The entire building was made of massive blocks of stone. The opening of the new church ended the rectorship of the Rev. Jacques, who left to take charge of St. James’ Church, in Hackettstown.

St. Luke’s was a free church, having reference to the fact that all the pews were free, it being the general custom to raise necessary funds of maintenance in most churches at that time through the medium of rented pews.

The Rev. J. F. Esch was called to be the rector of the new church on June 9, 1861, but he resigned in 1862 and wrote the following words to Bishop Odenheimer: “My hopes and expectations in regard to the prospects of the parish have not been realized, in consequence of which I resign my situation.” There seems to have been considerable difficulty during the early life of the congregation in regard to clergy, and at times the church was closed because of lack of clergy. Between 1861 and 1893, seventeen rectors had been in charge, which is an average of less than two years for each rectorship.

The 1894, the Rev. N. H. Martin came, and remained as rector until his death in 1907, and it was during his rectorship that the most constructive work was done. The Rev. Romeo Gould came, and stayed for a few months, and was followed by the Rev. Arthur W, Shaw, who served from 1907 to 1910; the Rev. G. M. Wilkins, 1910 to 1919; the Rev. Charles J. Childs, 1919 to 1922; the Rev. Ernest C. Biller, 1922 to 1924; the Rev. Cartright, 1924 to 1926; the Rev. Paul O. Plenchner, 1927 to 1929; the Rev. R. K. Gimson, 1929 to 1933; the Rev. Ross Flanagan, 1933 to 1934.

The Rev. Meyer took charge in connection with the Warren County field in September, 1934, assisted by the Rev. Revere Beasley and the Rev. Boyd Howarth, who resigned in 1936, and was succeeded by the Rev. George Bowden.

The Development of the Hillcrest section of Phillipsburg, furthered by the Ingersoll-Rand Company, began to attract home builders, and plans to erect a new high school in that section aroused the interest of the vestry of St. Luke’s parish; so in 1923, a large tract of land was purchased on Morris Pike. Some attractive offers had been received for the church site on South Main Street and plans were drawn up for the erection of a beautiful stone church on the new site at Hillcrest. Prospective sale of the old property failed to materialize, and the parish had a hard struggle with a heavy debt.

Early in 1934, overtures were made for the purchase of part of a lot by the Masonic Lodge, and a site on Hillcrest Boulevard was sold with an option on the remainder of the lot on the boulevard. Sale of this tract enabled the vestry to erect a chapel with a $3000 mortgage. Cost of the building was $7100, and the cornerstone for the St. Paul’s Chapel was laid on December 8, 1935. The chapel was built on what would become a wide traffic island of busy Memorial Parkway in Phillipsburg. Services were held in both the main church and the chapel. In 1947, the stone church was sold and services were held solely in the chapel.

On the Feast on St. Luke, October 18, 1953, ground was broken for the new St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at Lincoln Road and Hillcrest Boulevard. The ground breaking ceremony was attended by Rt. Rev. Leland W. F. Stark, Rev. George S. Bowden, and Warden John Exley. Construction of the new church was completed in late 1955, and on November 1, 1955, the new St. Luke’s Episcopal Church was dedicated.