New Jersey is a mid-Atlantic state with a long coast facing the Atlantic Ocean. It is diverse geographically, economically, culturally, politically, and in population. A recent diocesan profile by our sister Diocese of New Jersey suggests people new to New Jersey “start by forgetting” and says: “Forget all the clichés, the comics, and the caricatures of a state too casually called ‘Jersey.’ When you think of the state, if all you can picture is a concrete ribbon called the New Jersey Turnpike – well, forget that, too.”

The mission field of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark is the seven northernmost counties of New Jersey: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren; one parish, Calvary, Summit is in Union County. These counties constitute one-third of the territory of the State of New Jersey, the country’s most densely populated state (approximately 1,300 persons per square mile, 13 times the national average). More than 3.5 million people live within the bounds of the Diocese of Newark (of approximately 8.7 million New Jerseyans statewide). The majority of this population is to be found in the eastern urban areas that are bounded by the George Washington Bridge to the Garden State Parkway and south to I-78. This area includes two of the three key cities in northern New Jersey: Newark and Jersey City. Paterson is the third key city. New Jersey’s largest county (in terms of both population and land area), Bergen, is in the Diocese. Within a 30 mile radius of Manhattan lives the greater part of the population of New Jersey, most of whom also live in the Diocese of Newark.

The western and northern portions of the Diocese (Sussex and Warren Counties and part of Passaic County) are far less densely populated though rapidly growing and changing culturally. Some areas are rural in character, wooded and mountainous; 72 miles of the Appalachian Trail are within the bounds of the Diocese beginning where the trail crosses the Delaware River at the picturesque Delaware Water Gap and running along the Kittatinny Ridge, with abundant wildlife, including an active bear population. The 77-foot Great Falls of Paterson is the second largest waterfall east of the Mississippi River.

Long an important center of immigration (from days of exploration and colonies in the 17th century to today), New Jersey has significant racial and religious diversity. New Jersey gained a mix of ethnic groups during waves of immigration when indigenous peoples, as well as early settlers of Dutch, Swedish, English, African and West Indian descent, were joined by people from different parts of the U.S. and the world: from Ireland, Germany, and Great Britain from 1830 to 1880; from the southern U.S., and southern and eastern Europe, including Poland, Italy, Hungary, and Greece from 1880 to 1925; and from the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, and eastern Europe from the 1950s to the present.

From colonial times (prior to 1750) people of African descent arrived from the West Indies, especially Jamaica and Barbados, as well as directly from Africa and established enduring expressions of African culture. Most of the growth of New Jersey’s black population came from the steady arrival of southern blacks from the ante-bellum period through the Great Migration in the early 20th century. Through the 19th and 20th centuries immigrants have come from Barbados, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, Antigua and the rest of the Caribbean basin.

There are more than a million Hispanics in New Jersey and they represent nearly the entire Spanish-speaking world with strong representation from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Cuba. With a 55% growth rate from 1990 to 2000, the Hispanic/Latino population is growing 12 times faster than non-Hispanics.

New Jersey’s Asian population of approximately a half million nearly doubled from 1990-2000, far exceeding nationwide Asian growth. Asian Indians are the largest Asian ethnic group with Chinese, Filipinos, Koreans, and Japanese in descending order in succession. More than half of Asian New Jerseyans live in three counties, two of which, Bergen and Hudson are in the Diocese of Newark.

Today, approximately 67% of the population is white (not Hispanic/Latino), 14% is of black/African and Afro-Caribbean descent, 13% is Hispanic/Latino (of any race), and 6% is Asian. New groups of immigrants continue to arrive in New Jersey and population is growing.

New Jersey has a significant population of gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered and intersexed (GLBTI) people. More than 16,500 same-sex households are reported in the state (the actual number of such households is likely much higher due to significant under-reporting of this information in the U.S. Census). Over 10,000 children are being raised by same-sex couples. New Jersey is a battleground in the same-sex marriage debate. In June 2002, seven couples filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s prohibition against legal recognition of same-sex marriages. Lewis et al. v. Harris et al. is currently on appeal and likely destined for New Jersey’s state Supreme Court. Two Episcopal priests, one of whom is a Rector in the Diocese, are one of the couples in the suit. Two other couples in the lawsuit are lay members of Episcopal churches in the Diocese.

The largest Christian body in New Jersey is the Roman Catholic Church with 3.1 million reported adherents, representing 41% of the population. The overall religious milieu is highly varied with many Protestant and Orthodox Christian (Greek, Armenian, Syrian, Ukrainian) churches, Jewish temples and synagogues, Islamic mosques, as well as Buddhist, Hindu, Ba’hai and other houses of worship.

Of New Jersey’s 566 municipalities, 206 are in the Diocese of Newark. Northern New Jersey is composed of self-rule local municipalities that rarely think or act regionally. Most schools (there are 611 independent public school districts), fire and police departments and other public services are independent within these municipalities.

Northern New Jersey lacks balanced communities across the economic spectrum. We live in communities segregated from one another in pockets of poverty and wealth. The disparities of these enclaves are exacerbated both by the variable quality of public schools (wealth is attracted to better local public school systems) and because much of New Jersey’s housing policy is dominated by developers.

While the percentage of people living below the poverty level in New Jersey was reported at 8.5% in 1999, in three counties of the Diocese the percentage of people living below the poverty level was respectively: Essex, 15.6%; Passaic, 12.3%; and Hudson, 15.5%. Serious problems related to poverty such as crime, substance abuse, child abuse and domestic violence, hunger and homelessness present a constant challenge.

Economic pressure is a fact of life for New Jerseyans. Two areas of New Jersey were listed on the Forbes Magazine top 10 most overpriced areas list, including the Bergen-Passaic County area in the Diocese of Newark, with a 2004 median home price of $448,100. High property and income taxes, soaring home prices and comparatively stagnant wages all contribute to one of the highest costs of living in the country. While the state’s median annual household income of $61,300 in 2004 is 37% higher than the national average, the median monthly housing cost of more than $1,700 is 52% higher than the national average. Long work hours and multiple jobs are not unusual for New Jersey households.

Population experts view New Jersey as a megalopolis. It is one of the few states in the nation in which all land is classified within a municipality. Due to the proximity to New York City and New Jersey’s larger cities, many who live in our communities see themselves as living in a suburban community. In fact, from a wider perspective, 90% of New Jersey can be seen as urban area especially, in the Diocese of Newark, the municipalities of Irvington, Passaic, Clifton, Hoboken, Union City, Bayonne, North Bergen, East Orange, and others. Virtually all communities are under significant financial stress as a result of inadequate revenues and rising public education and service costs. Social pressures (homelessness, hunger, gangs, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, etc.) are known in communities across the Diocese.

New Jersey has the country’s densest system of highways and roads which have redesigned the shape of our landscape. Interstates 80 and 78 (East-West), the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway (North-South) all begin in the Diocese and other heavily-traveled interstate and state routes (such as I-287 and Route 17) criss-cross northern New Jersey and link to legendary bridges and tunnels such as the George Washington, Bayonne, and Goethals Bridges and the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels. The busiest airport in the New York metropolitan region and one of the busiest airports in the world is Newark Liberty International.

The constant “in motion” character of people in northern New Jersey is further enhanced by New Jersey Transit that operates over 700 trains, more than 2,000 buses, and 45 light rail vehicles providing over 220 million passenger trips annually statewide. Additional bus lines, and the PATH rail system that links New Jersey to New York City, keep New Jerseyans going at all hours of the day and night. Thousands commute to New York daily for work in finance, entertainment, the arts, health care, insurance, education, and service fields. While there is a significant amount of available public transportation, most routes carry people to New York City or otherwise out of state. Traveling on public transportation within New Jersey is challenging, at best, and explains our dependence on car travel.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, no New Jersey county currently meets Federal air quality standards, meaning that all people in the Diocese are routinely exposed to airborne pollutants that have been proven conclusively to be harmful to human health; New Jersey has high cancer and infant mortality rates. No person in the state of New Jersey, according to The New York Times, lives more than 10 miles from a Superfund site (108 in New Jersey), a toxic site listed as one of the most hazardous in the country. Our diocesan seat, Newark, sits in the midst of a Superfund site that covers over 10 miles of the Passaic River and Newark Bay.

Suburban sprawl is rampant in New Jersey. It has been identified as one of the major threats to the environment in the developed world because of the infrastructure of unsustainable consumption it creates.

While classified within municipalities, some parts of the Diocese have a decidedly rural feeling. People who live in these areas with nearby small towns and villages understand themselves as living in a rural environment. Working farms dot the western part of the Diocese and people from more congested regions seek out the quiet and seclusion of these less-crowded environs.

New Jersey is one of the consumer capitals of the world. The highest concentration of shopping malls in the world, with six major ones in a five mile radius, is within the Diocese. The single Paramus zip code has nearly 600 different retail businesses with annual sales of $3.2 billion. Ironically, these numbers have been achieved in spite of some of the only remaining blue laws in the country that forbid Sunday sales.

Called “the nation’s medicine cabinet,” more than a sixth of all medications in the U.S. are manufactured here, making the chemical industry, which includes pharmaceuticals, New Jersey’s leading industry. Tourism is the second-largest industry in New Jersey. Service industry, wholesale and retail trade, finance and insurance, and government are all part of the state’s employment picture. Newark-based Prudential is the world’s largest insurance company. Software and software-related industry accounts for 2,700 businesses in New Jersey. More than 9,500 New Jersey farms contribute to the $62 billion agriculture industry in the Garden State. Port Newark is one of the busiest ports in the world.

Daunting as some elements of the context of the Diocese of Newark may sound, people still want to live here.

Why?

For some there is proximity to family and extended family. Many have put down deep roots through the years. For others, ties to their particular town with its distinctive character and traditions keep them close. Some New Jerseyans who live within sight of Manhattan have never or rarely been there.

Jobs are a key factor. A vast array of employment is available in the New Jersey area including both metropolitan New York and Philadelphia.

For still others, the draw and the hold of New Jersey is dynamism. Simply put, the density of the religious, social, cultural, economic, and political environment and the richness that comes with it can be as stimulating as it is demanding. People live in a constantly changing and endlessly fascinating mix of circumstances with interesting and engaging people from all walks of life. There are lots of talented “regular” folks rubbing shoulders with celebrities, sports figures, and leaders in public service, business, finance, and the arts.

New Jersey has always been pivotal in the history of the United States. New Jerseyans can sense modern life unfolding against the backdrop of earlier eras.

Experiences of startling beauty are as diverse and varied as the people of New Jersey. From the dazzling views of the New York City skyline and the ribbons of light that snake along the Turnpike every evening to the spectacular autumn foliage in the western hills and magnificent gardens across the landscape, our Diocese has awesome scenery. Additionally, life in New Jersey includes proximity to 127 miles of beautiful and popular beaches at the Jersey Shore, as well as wilderness areas, rivers, lakes and mountains.

Most people associate the Meadowlands with the Sports Complex in Bergen County, but the complex’s two arenas and race track along with acres of paved parking lots sit amidst the true Meadowlands, a vast stretch of wetlands under preservation that are returning biodiversity to the area. The Meadowlands is an urban wilderness where herons, egrets and hawks fly across the backdrop of New York City.

The Meadowlands Sports Complex is host to New Jersey Devils hockey, New Jersey Nets basketball, and MetroStars soccer as well as the New York Giants and the New York Jets. There are seven minor league baseball teams in New Jersey which play in fan-friendly stadiums, two of which are in the Diocese of Newark (New Jersey Jackals in Montclair and the Newark Bears in Newark).

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark (NJPAC), which opened in 1997, has, according to The New York Times “one of the world’s great concert halls” in its Prudential Hall. More than 3.5 million visitors have experienced a vast array of great performances from the resident New Jersey Symphony and most of the great orchestras of the world to dance, pop and rock artists. The Paper Mill Playhouse is one of the foremost regional theaters in the country and the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood and the Community Theatre in Morristown are highly regarded venues.

The Newark Museum houses a renowned collection of art and the largest collection of Tibetan artifacts in the western world. Located near both the Newark Museum and NJPAC is The New Jersey Historical Society (NJHS), the oldest cultural institution in the state. Through exhibitions, programs and its library, NJHS interprets our state’s rich and diverse history. The Paterson Museum, Montclair Art Museum, Jersey City Museum, Liberty Science Center, and Morris Museum all offer significant exhibitions and special events.

Institutions of higher education within the Diocese include Rutgers University-Newark, Seton Hall, Stevens Institute of Technology, Drew University, Montclair State, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Jersey City University, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Fairleigh Dickinson University (in Madison and Teaneck), Ramapo College, William Paterson, and others.

Outstanding health care facilities serve the region: Hackensack University Medical Center, Holy Name Hospital, Valley Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Christ Hospital, Morristown Memorial, Newark Beth Israel, St. Barnabas, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), University Hospital, Englewood Hospital, world-renowned Kessler Institute and many other facilities provide the top echelon of health care. Additional world-class research and teaching hospitals are nearby in New York City.

New York City with its vast resources of all sorts (academic, cultural, political, religious, business) is within easy reach – as are other east coast cities with their advantages (Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. are easily accessible). Many who live within the Diocese of Newark make an easy (or sometimes difficult) commute to New York daily to work; others go to New York several times a week to pursue other interests. From the western part of the Diocese, some commute to Philadelphia and its environs.

With its abundant challenges and benefits, New Jersey is a rich and constantly evolving environment in which to live and minister.

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