Located on the New Jersey shore, St. Peter’s is nestled on the northern tip of Long Beach Island in the quaint fishing borough of Barnegat Light. The Church was originally constructed in 1890 at the request of Benjamin Archer, a ship builder, as a chapel for visitors to the Oceanic Hotel. The building was sold to the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey in 1937 and was designated as a summer chapel. It was closed in 1946, and subsequently was reopened by Bishop Banyard in 1955. By the late 1980’s services at St. Peter’s were held on a year-round basis and the Church achieved “Mission” status in 1992. To further contribute to the ministry at St. Peter’s, the Parish House was also completed in 1992. With its large kitchen, meeting room, restrooms, and Church office, it provides space to host meetings, classes, and other community socialization events. Subsequently, a handicap lift was added to the side of the building.

In 2004, St. Peter’s took a daring leap of faith and called their first part-time Vicar. The following year it was decided to build a new vicarage for the Vicar and his/her family. This project was completed in 2006.

In 2015 St. Peter’s underwent a successful capital campaign to raise funds for needed improvements to the Church. We enlarged the Sacristy, added two handicap accessible bathrooms and in the rear of the nave a niche was added for the relocation of the organ and to make room for a few additional pews. The addition was completed in 2017 and allowed us to increase our church capacity to 100 people.

As you might surmise, this gives you only a glimpse of our history. St. Peter’s has been in tact at its present location since 1890, and its basic architecture has been largely unaltered since that time. A documentary depicting the history of our Church was commissioned in 2006. This video of our precious, historical Church takes you back in time with Church historians Jerry Walnut and Richard Plunkett. Filmed at the Church this video captures the Church’s magnificent Triptych, their spectacular stain glass windows, commentaries by various congregants, the carvings, the old pews and so much more. To access this video go to You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUzE1OJ5opY .