​In the late 1700’s, a man named Benjamin Abbott led services in the Fishing Creek home of Abram Woolsen, the first convert to Methodism in Cape May County. The deed for the first Tabernacle Church building was signed on December 31, 1803. The land was a gift from Memucan Hughes, a descendant of the Pilgrim John Howland. Karl A. Dickinson, curator of the Cape May County Museum in Cape May Court House in the 1950’s, gave this description of the first church… “It was a very crude church building pinned together with wooden pegs and covered with cedar clapboards. The windows were small and there were four on each side. The pulpit was high, octagonal in form with paneled work. There was a little door for the minister to shut himself in. The seats were hard pine. The box-shaped heater was capable of receiving cord wood three feet long. The church was dimly lighted with tallow candles (at first) and later with whale oil. The Communion Table was made of two pine boards fastened together to form the letter “X”. On it sat a cedar bucket with the word “Methodist” in blue printed on it.” In 1844, a second church was built by Daniel Hughes and Swain Hoffman at a cost of $900. Preachers on the “Cape May Circuit” filled the pulpit. In 1857, a chapel was built in “Teal Town” (Fishing Creek) and was used in addition to the main church building. A third Tabernacle Church was dedicated on November 14, 1875. The sermon was preached by a Rev. D. W. Bartine of Morristown, NJ. from John 12:23–24. In 1895, a parsonage (pastor’s home) was built just south of what is now the entrance to the Seashore Campground. The fourth church was built and dedicated in 1917. Rev. Harry Garretson, pastor of the church at the time, helped with the construction. The building, located on the corner of Seashore and Tabernacle Roads, is our present Sunday School Building. In 1959, while Rev. Rollo Michael was the pastor, the gym was built and named “Michael Hall” in his honor. A new parsonage was built then also and was used until Pastor John Taylor retired in 2002. The church building we now use was dedicated on May 1, 1966. Members of the building committee included Jack Elliott, Jim Blake, Judge Harlan, Bill Lamon, Rose McDonald, Rev. Michael and Rev. Roberts. During the 1960’s, the church provided a sports program for Lower Township in Michael Hall three nights a week. There was a Beginner’s Church and this rapidly increasing Monday Men’s Prayer Group was started. In the 1970’s, a bus ministry started and peaked at 97 riders at a time where the Sunday School facilities were overwhelmed. Other programs included an Adult Fellowship, Children’s Church, Junior Choir (grades 1 to 4), a Singing Youth Bunch (grades 4 to 7), and a Home Bible Study program. The church also supported a missionary in Rhodesia, Africa, and sponsored area Scouting organizations. In 1976, the membership increased and an enclosed front porch was added. Services at that time were: Sunday School 9:30, Children’s Church 9:30, and Worship Service 10:45. Today’s average attendance is approximately 100 for Sunday Church and VBS has 150–160 children yearly.