As a boy growing up in England, John Murray dreaded Sundays.

His family, led by a stern father, rose at dawn each Sunday to spend the whole day praying and attending church. After church John’s father would quiz him on the sermon. If John couldn’t answer every question, his father would strike him with a cane, or box his ears.

Sunday was a time to sit and think about hell–a place where most people went after they died, and burned in flames forever and ever.

John’s parents believed in the Calvinist idea of God–that God decided whether a person would go to heaven or hell before that person was even born, and a person could do nothing to change this. Furthermore, only a certain few people were chosen to go to heaven. People thought that if you attended church a lot, and if you worked very hard, and if you were very good, and if you made a good living, it could mean that God had chosen you for heaven.That is why John’s father was so strict. John tried to please his father. At the age of six, he could read entire chapters of the Bible. He developed a talent for speaking and, as a teenager, he was often asked to preach in nearby churches.

When John was nineteen, he left for London and took a job at a cloth mill. But he was careful to attend church every evening and on Sunday, and he woke every morning at 4:00 to pray. He began to think that maybe he was one of the special few persons chosen by God to be saved. He started to feel and act superior to others.

Then one day in church John met Eliza, the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen. He immediately fell in love with her, and she with him. Soon after, John and Eliza married.

At this same time in London, a small group of people called Universalists were preaching ideas about God that were very different from the Calvinists. "John," said Eliza one day, "who are these Universalists?"

"I don’t know," he answered. "I hear they are evil and dangerous people."

"What do they believe?" asked Eliza.

"From what I hear; they believe some crazy idea that…well, that every person will go to heaven because God is so good!" said John.

"To tell you the truth, John." said Eliza,"I sometimes wonder myself why a truly good God would want millions of humans to go to hell, through no fault of their own. Besides, John, is anyone really completely good?"

John felt uneasy. It seemed wrong to question what he had been taught all his life.

"Let’s find out more," said Eliza.

John and Eliza learned about theUniversalist ideas about God. They spent several years carefully thinking through their beliefs. In the end, they chose Universalism.

Their friends were shocked and refused to be friends anymore. John and Eliza didn’t care. Universalism gave them hope in place of stern judgment. John discovered that he no longer looked down on people. He now cared deeply about others, rich and poor. He and Eliza made new friends, and to add to their happiness, they had a baby boy.

Then suddenly everything changed. Their baby died and Eliza became sick. John spent all their money and borrowed more to save her, but she died, also. John was thrown into debtors prison for owing money.

"I have come to pay your debts, John, and get you out of this place," said Eliza’s brother who came to John’s rescue. John replied, "My wife and my baby are dead. I don’t care whether I live or die. Just leave me."

But Eliza’s brother brought John home anyway. "Come on, John," said his friends. "Preach Universalism for us. We need you."

"I shall never preach again," John said,"but I know what I will do. I’m going to cross the ocean to America, and lose myself in the wilderness. I am done with the world."

In 1770, John sailed to America in the Hand in Hand. The ship was supposed to dock in New York City, but the captain miscalculated, and instead, the Hand in Hand got stuck on a sand bar off the coast of New Jersey. The captain asked John to go ashore to find fresh food and water for the crew.

John was glad to get off the ship and after walking some distance through the tall pines, he came to a clearing with a large house and, to his astonishment, a trim looking church made of rough sawed lumber. A tall farmer stood in front of the house cleaning fish.

"Welcome" called out the farmer. "My name is Thomas Potter."

"And I am John Murray, from the ship Hand in Hand."

"Yes," said Thomas, "I saw your ship in the bay, stuck on the sand bar, she is."

"May I buy your fish to take back to the ship’s crew?" asked John.

"You can have them for the taking, and gladly:’ answered Thomas,"and please come back to spend the night with my wife and me. I will tell you all about this little church and why it is here."

John gratefully carried the fish to the sailors, and then returned to Thomas’ home for the night.

"Come, my friend, sit in front of our fire, this chilly fall evening," said Thomas. "I’m so glad you have come. You may be the very person I’ve been waiting for."

John wondered,"Waiting for! What could he be talking about?".

Thomas explained. "You see, I grew up here in these woods. I never had a chance to read or write, but I always liked hearing the Bible read, and I’ve thought a lot about religion. Trouble is, my ideas are different from the ideas of the preachers who travel through these parts. I built this little church myself for all the traveling preachers to use. I ask them questions and talk to them, but they don’t know what to make of me and my ideas. I keep looking for a preacher of a very different stamp. I want a preacher who will teach about a loving God who saves all people, not just a chosen few."

Today, when I saw your ship in the bay, a voice inside me seemed to say, "There, Potter, in that ship may be the preacher you have been so long expecting."

John said quickly,"I am not a preacher."

"But," said Thomas Potter, leaning forward, "can you say that you have never preached?"

"I have preached," answered John slowly,"and I believe, as you do, in a loving God."

"I knew it! I knew it!" shouted Thomas."You are the preacher for whom I have waited for so long! You’ve got to preach in my church on Sunday!"

"No," replied John firmly. "I never want to preach again. Tomorrow, as soon as the wind changes, I will be on my way!"

After John went to bed, he couldn’t sleep. He thought to himself as he tossed and turned,"I just want to get away from everything…if I preach Universalism I know there will be trouble. Folks here in America mostly have Calvinist views, just as in England.Why start trouble for myself in a new country? But Thomas Potter has such faith in me. And he’s so kind. Oh, I wish I knew what to do.

By Saturday night the wind had still not changed, and John finally agreed to preach the next moming. Thomas Potter was overjoyed. He grabbed his coat and hat and ran for the door."I’m going to spread the word to all the neighbors! They can expect a sermon such as they have never heard before!"

And so, on Sunday morning September 30, 1770, Thomas Potter’s dream came true and the first Universalist sermon was delivered in America. At last he could hear a preacher who talked of love instead of punishment.

As for John Murray, after that Sunday he knew he wanted to preach. Just as he expected, there were people who were angry at him for preaching ideas so different from Calvinism. They spread lies about him and stoned him, but he stuck to his beliefs and, in 1779, organized the first Universalist church in America in Gloucester, Mass. After many years, he fell in love again and married. He and his wife, Judith, had a daughter.

And if you’re ever in Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey, the little church that waited so long is waiting for you to visit in Murray Grove.