St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church stands at the corner of Hilltop Avenue and Laurence Parkway in the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, a neighborhood whose twentieth-century story is written into the parish itself. Mass is offered here every day of the week, the sacraments are prepared for year-round, and a Saturday-morning food pantry opens its doors to the surrounding community. The parish belongs to the Diocese of Metuchen and is led by Father Mark F. Kehoe, three deacons, and a parish catechetical leader who together keep the rhythms of a working Catholic shore parish running smoothly.
From Casino Masses to a Parish of Its Own
Laurence Harbor was shaped by its water. In the early 1600s the land along the Raritan Bay was home to the Lenni Lenape in summer months; the Dutch held it first, then the English after 1664. By the early twentieth century, land developer Laurence Lamb had bought the bluff and built a four-hundred-acre shorefront golf and country club with eighteen rooms and sixteen fireplaces, where Clark Gable, Guy Lombardo, the future Edward VIII, and the Vanderbilts came to eat Chingarora oysters from the bay. In 1928 the property was sold and subdivided into twenty-five-by-one-hundred-foot bungalow lots, complete with a boardwalk, a casino, a band shell, and a merry-go-round.
Catholics in the harbor were already gathering for Mass before any of those lots were sold. As early as 1923, priests from St. Mary in South Amboy came down to celebrate the Eucharist, first in a store, then in the outdoor casino, with chairs carried in on Saturday nights and put away after Sunday worship. In winter, parishioners took the Marathon bus to South Amboy for Mass; when the bus did not run, they walked. In October 1926 Bishop Thomas Walsh of Trenton established St. Lawrence as a mission church of St. Mary's, and the summer people of the harbor became a formal worshiping community.
The Great Depression turned the summer colony into a year-round village, and the Diocese of Trenton, under Bishop William Griffin, agreed that Laurence Harbor needed its own parish. Ground was broken at Hilltop and Laurence Parkway on May 26, 1941, under the direction of Msgr. Edward C. Griffin of St. Mary's in South Amboy. The original design called for a steel A-frame, but wartime shortages forced a switch to wooden trusses arranged in an X pattern with exposed nuts and bolts, a distinctive detail still part of the building's character. The first Mass was celebrated on Christmas Eve, 1942, by Rev. Francis P. Gunner of South Amboy. The parish was canonically erected on November 13, 1943, when Father Thomas Carney became its first resident pastor and soon oversaw construction of the rectory in 1947.
Successive pastors have shaped the parish over the decades: Fathers Walter Slattery, Melvin Stanczewski, Vincent Nebus, Julius Licata, Raymond Attanasio, and Joseph Szulwach. Father Jonathan Toborowsky arrived in 2009 and was transferred in April 2018, after which Father James (Fr. Jay) shepherded the community until the summer of 2018, when Father Mark Kehoe arrived as the current pastor.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and Other Devotions
Mass is the center of life at St. Lawrence. Weekday Mass and Saturday morning Mass are both celebrated at 8:00 a.m., and the Saturday Vigil Mass follows at 4:30 p.m. Sunday Masses are offered at 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. On Holy Days of Obligation, a Vigil Mass is celebrated at 7:00 p.m. the evening before, and Masses on the holy day itself are scheduled for 8:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m.
The Rosary is recited every day after the 8:00 a.m. Mass, with Sundays excepted. On the first Monday of each month, Eucharistic Adoration is held from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Reconciliation is heard each Saturday from 3:30 to 4:00 p.m. and can also be arranged by appointment with the parish office.
Anyone unable to attend Mass because of illness or frailty can call the parish office to arrange a visit from Father, which may also include Anointing and Confession, or a visit from a deacon or an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. Because of patient privacy rules, hospitals no longer notify parishes of admissions; the office asks families or friends to call when a parishioner is hospitalized.
Baptism, Marriage, and the Rites of Christian Initiation
Baptism at St. Lawrence is celebrated on the third Sunday of each month, after the noon hour. Parents contact the parish office to schedule a date, and first-time parents attend a Baptismal preparation class beforehand. Couples preparing for Marriage are asked to contact the parish office a full year in advance, before any reception plans are made, so that the required meetings and formation can take place.
The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (R.C.I.A.) is the parish's program for adults who wish to become baptized Roman Catholics, for those baptized in another Christian community and seeking full reception into the Church, and for baptized Catholics who wish to complete their Sacraments of Initiation. Those interested are invited to contact the parish office for information about the current year's process.
Religious Education for Children and Teens
The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) program at St. Lawrence gathers children from first grade through eighth grade, with a special session for students with special needs. The weekly schedule is organized by grade level: Grades 1 and 2 meet on Tuesdays from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m.; Grades 6, 7, and 8 meet on Tuesdays from 7:00 to 8:15 p.m.; Grades 3, 4, and 5 meet on Wednesdays from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m.; and special-needs students meet on Sundays from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m. The Religious Education Office, staffed by Parish Catechetical Leader Mrs. Judy Logan, can be reached at 732-566-0226 or rel.ed@saintlawrencechurch.com.
Knights of Columbus Council 10281
St. Lawrence is home to Knights of Columbus Council 10281, one of the parish's most active lay organizations. The council is part of the worldwide order of Catholic men whose principal works are charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism, and it serves the parish and the wider Laurence Harbor community through fundraising, service projects, and faith formation. The Grand Knight can be reached through the council's email at mattiule@optonline.net.
The Altar Rosary Society
The Altar Rosary Society is a long-standing women's society whose members quietly keep much of the parish running. They clean the parish buildings several times a year, launder the altar linens used for Mass, raise funds to support parish projects that benefit the community, and host trips open to all parishioners. Their central devotion is the Rosary, which they pray for their own members, for the parish family, and for Rosarians around the world.
The Saturday Morning Food Pantry
Every Saturday from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., the St. Lawrence Food Pantry opens to serve neighbors in need. Operated by parish volunteers, the pantry is one of the most concrete expressions of the parish's call to charity and a point of contact with the wider Laurence Harbor community beyond Sunday Mass.
Joining the Parish and Supporting Its Work
New parishioners are warmly welcomed and can register online or by contacting the parish office. The parish notes that registration, while important for record-keeping and for the issuance of Godparent or Sponsor certificates, is only one mark of a practicing Catholic; regular attendance at Sunday Mass is the other. Online giving is available through Parish Giving, the parish's secure electronic giving provider, with options for weekly, biweekly, or monthly contributions and the ability to designate special collections and Holy Day offerings. Members can also download a printable Collection Basket Coupon for use when they give in person.
Pastoral Staff and Contacts
The parish is pastored by Rev. Mark F. Kehoe, who also serves as Administrator. Three deacons, Michael Abriola, Stephen Gajewski, and Gregory Ris, assist with Mass, preach the Gospel, and bring Holy Communion to the sick and homebound. Mrs. Judy Logan serves as Parish Catechetical Leader, overseeing the religious education of the parish's children. The parish office can be reached at 732-566-1093 or by email at saintlawrenceharbor@gmail.com, and is open during the week for registrations, sacramental scheduling, visits to the sick, and general inquiries.
A Living Parish on the Harbor
Eight decades after that first Christmas Eve Mass in a wartime wooden-trussed church, St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church remains the spiritual home of a shore community that first gathered for the Eucharist in a dance hall and a firehouse. From daily Mass and the Rosary to the Saturday food pantry, from the CCD classrooms to the Knights of Columbus and the Altar Rosary Society, the parish continues to carry the same character that defined its earliest years: a working Catholic community that takes care of its own and welcomes those who come to the harbor in any season.