On December 3, 1855, the North Plainfield Sunday School was organized in a room rented for six months for $15.00. At that time North Plainfield was a small community of less-than-500 residents and 50 buildings.

In June, 1870, the first meeting of the Warren Union Mission Sunday School, organized by Miss Jeanie Wheeler, was held. To provide a home for the Sunday School, plans were for a chapel building. By year's end, a site on Chatham Street was purchased, plans were prepared, and the building was completed and occupied. Job Male, an early Mayor of Plainfield, and a contributor to the building fund, donated his services to design and complete the building's specifications. The total cost of the project was $3,486 including land and furniture.

The thirty-two-member group changed the Chapel's name to Warren Chapel. The Chapel Constitution stated that the religious services were to be non-sectarian. In 1893, the membership voted to become affiliated with Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, along with Hope and Bethel Chapels. Rev. Joseph O. McKelvey became Pastor and $200.00 was budgeted for Sunday School expenses.

The Crescent Avenue Church Session minutes report that a meeting was held on February 4, 1894 at Warren Chapel to receive new members. The worship service that followed was attended by about nineteen members and included: "the second Communion Service of Warren Chapel and the first at which members were received, one which will long be remembered by those privileged to participate in it."

The next years were years of inspired leadership and rewarded work because by 1900, 114 more members had been received, bringing the membership to 138. Rapid growth continued and by 1902, the membership reached 214 and the Ladies Aid Society was established. The Sunday school enrollment was 525, with the attendance averaging 323.

Again, larger quarters were necessary. After a few years, the present site at the corner of Watching and Fairview Avenues was selected. The Crescent Avenue, First Presbyterian Churches and the Elizabeth Presbytery were persuaded that the location was proper and work on the present building began. Rev. McKelvey laid the corner-stone on September 27, 1906.

At the 1923 annual meeting Rev. McKelvey resigned. He had served for thirty years except for a two-year leave-of-absence during World War I. The entire growth of the Warren Union Mission Sunday School to Warren Chapel and finally to Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church was under his inspired guidance. Rev. Spratt replaced him.

By the 1920's the Church began to assume substantial proportions. In 1925, the membership had grown to 379. Benevolence disbursements of $2350 and an operating budget of $6500 were reported.

But, progress is not always forward. Following the prosperity of the 1920's came the difficulties of the Depression. In 1931, financial reports of most of the Church's organizations showed only nominal balances. The Church treasury stood at less than $100.00.

By 1936, the Depression's shadow was beginning to lift. The Session minutes of July, 1936 show:"The Pastor stated that Church finances, in general, seemed somewhat better. He cited the fact that he had been paid the
arrears in his previous year's salary as well as the regular salary for April and May of the current year."

Seeing a brighter outlook for the future, Rev. Spratt felt that the time had come to dissolve the pastoral relationship and he resigned in June, 1937.

In late 1937, a pastor selection committee was formed. At the March, 1938 Congregational Meeting, there was a unanimous call to Rev. Earl E. Hair, who, on April 21, 1938, became the third pastor of Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church. He retired after serving faithfully for nearly 30 years.

Rev. Richard Kahlenberg, Rev. Howard Milkman, and Rev. J. Brooks Smith, who has served for more than 25 years, succeeded Rev Hair.

Throughout these many years the membership of Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church has remained constant but the church's community involvement has grown.

A group of members of Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church and friends and supporters of other churches and communities spearheaded Friends of the Carpenter, a non-profit housing corporation. In 1984, on the site of the Warren Chapel, the Friends of the Carpenter group built Chatham Rowe, an eight-home development for people with low to moderate incomes. In 1985, Friends of the Carpenter bought a second Chatham Street lot to further improve the community and lead the way toward a revitalized community that has always been Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church's home.

With these constructions, we return back to the spot where the Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church began continuing an era of community service that began at the Warren Chapel and continues into the future.

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