What were the religions in the colony of New Jersey?
New Jersey, if slower to develop, also embraced a variety of religious groups. By 1701 the colony had forty-five distinct congregations; unable to afford churches, most met in houses or barns. And because clergymen were few, lay leaders frequently conducted services, with baptism and communion being offered only by the occasional itinerant minister. All denominations in New Jersey expanded rapidly over the eighteenth century. A church survey in 1765 lists the active congregations as follows: Presbyterian 55 Quaker 39 Church of England 21 Dutch Reformed 21 Baptist 19 Dutch Lutheran 4 Seventh Day Baptist 2 German Reformed 2 and a few scattered others.
