Harvey Cedars Bible Conference has occupied the former, historic Harvey Cedars Hotel since the early 1940s. It officially opened on August 3, 1941. Presbyterian ministerJack Murray purchased the old hotel, which was abandoned for around 10 years, and converted it into Harvey Cedars Bible Presbyterian Conference. After around 10 years of directing the conference, Jack left the operations to Al Oldham. The name was changed to Harvey Cedars Bible Conference by 1949 while Jack Murray was still involved, and was run by Al until the mid-1990s when the director position was passed on to his son, Jon Oldham. Originally a small one story hotel started in the 1830s for fishermen and hunters, it was expanded throughout the 19th century to a two-story. A large renovation, completed in 1903, led to the three-story structure which was kept rather similar until the late 1990s when sections of it were gutted and rebuilt, out of style with the original Victorian architecture. In 1949/1950, a separate chapel was built on the property. Stained glass windows purchased from the Engleside Hotel in Beach Haven were used in the new chapel. These windows were, with the exception of two sashes, completely removed years later after years of damage from the high winds. Two of the old sashes remained in the bookstore, off the chapel, until around 2003 when they were also removed. The HCBC complex also contains a modern hotel, a 1960s motel-style building, separate dining hall, a dock and elevated bayside deck, tennis courts, an indoor heated swimming pool, an indoor hot tub, a gymnasium, volleyball court, and soccer fields.
Current Ministry
The Bible Conference has a long history of Biblically oriented ministries and vacations for families and people of all ages and ethnicities. The summers feature week-long Family Weeks and Teen Weeks. The rest of the year is filled with weekend retreats for different organizations, including at least one retreat which brings in hundreds from other countries.
Renovations
Changing times, expectations for improved accommodations and guest amenities led to decisions to renovate in the 1990s, up to the present time. The former bar,. The decorative steel ceiling may have been removed—it was at least covered by a drop ceiling. This bar originally contained one of a set of matching decorative fireplaces completed in 1903 after the major renovation. The matching decorative fireplace in the former South Lounge was removed around 2004 when the South Lounge was completely remodeled. The decorative, functional south porches were also removed, on the first floor to extend former South lounge into needed meeting rooms. On the 2nd and 3rd floor, the former porches were replaced mostly by a concrete block fireproof stairwell. The former dining room has been kept mostly original. All the exterior old windows were replaced, but the decorative embossed-steel walls and ceiling are still present. This room originally had gas light fixtures which were removed long ago. The pocket doors on the south side were covered, but are still in the walls. Also on the first floor, the former "Woman's Lounge" during the Hotel days was gutted and converted into modern bathrooms around 2004. On the north side of the hotel the old back stairway which extended from the first floor to the attic was removed. A concrete block fireproof stairwell was added to the north and south side to adhere to New Jersey fire code. On the second floor, many guest rooms were gutted and renovated. Some restrooms were also gutted and renovated. All other historic hotels of the same size located on the island have long since been destroyed. For more old photographs of the old hotel, see Harvey Cedars Hotel and Camp Whelen as they occupied the same building during different eras.
Namesake
A significant signpost in the history of the Bible Presbyterian Church was the publication and approval of what came to be known as the Harvey Cedars Resolutions. In 1945 the Eighth General Synod of the BPC convened at the denomination's conference center in Harvey Cedars, New Jersey. Thus the name applied to the resolutions. With its approval, the Bible Presbyterian Church codified much of what had already characterized the denomination, namely its stance on the twin issues of personal and ecclesial separation.
