Our Story

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In the early 1900’s, Maronites from Mount Lebanon began to immigrate to New Jersey. They fled the

repressive Ottoman Empire, its persecution and occupation of Lebanon. Those Maronites were

scattered across Central New Jersey, but the majority settled in the New Brunswick area.

These first settlers in New Jersey worked very hard in establishing a new community, yet they were

determined that, as exiles, their children would know about the beautiful land called Lebanon which

they had been forced to leave. One of the most striking features of Lebanese immigrants has been their

conviction that education leads to success. These early Maronite immigrants identified strongly with

their religious heritage.

Dedicated to the preservation of their Maronite heritage the new goal for this generation was to

establish a church. In 1980 a group of about 35 families petitioned the H.E. Archbishop Francis M. Zayek

to appoint a priest to serve Mass in the Maronite rite in New Brunswick on a regular basis. The group

also asked the Reverend Louis Leyh, pastor of Sacred Heart, for the use of his Church. They later

obtained the Bishop's approval to form a Church Council.

On July 13, 1980, Archbishop Zayek conducted the first Maronite mass at Sacred Heart Church in New

Brunswick. Following the mass, a meeting was held in the Church hall, at which plans were made to

continue a weekly Maronite liturgy at Sacred Heart, conducted by a priest sent by Archbishop Zayek. In

addition, and most important to the community, it was agreed upon that the Bishop would authorize

the community to obtain a church of their own, and that, in the interim, the new parish would be called

"Saint Sharbel Mission of New Jersey".

In July of 1980, Maronite mass was conducted every Saturday evening, usually by Monsignor George

Wehby, Vicar General. With Monsignor Wehby at the helm, the community strengthened and began to

attract many Lebanese and Maronites to attend liturgy and actively participate with the Maronite

community.

The following two years witnessed tremendous growth in parish families and the Council began to

identify a number of possibilities for the establishment of the First Maronite church in New Jersey. An

ideal property was found in Somerset County, central to the large majority of Lebanese people. The St.

Sharbel Mission of New Jersey purchased the church in 1984. In December of 1986, the house at 12

Reeve Street was purchased for use as the Rectory.

The first priest to serve the Mission of St. Sharbel and St. Sharbel Church was Msgr. Fahed Azar, from

1981 to 1990. He was followed by Father Sharbel Semaan, 1990-1992, and by Chorbishop Michael

Thomas, 1992-1994. Msgr. Maroun Asmar served 1994-2010. After His retirement Msgr. Asmar was

replaced with Father Tony Akoury who served 2010-2018. In June of 2018, Father Simon Elhajj started

serving Saint Sharbel Church.

The parish of St. Sharbel had adoration for vocations since its inception. From the beginning there were

prayers before the Blessed Sacrament for an increase in vocations. Their prayers were answered in 1989

when, their very own, Msgr. Sharbel Maroun was ordained to the Holy Priesthood.

On March 25th of 2006, Joseph Chebli was ordained as a Sub Deacon for St. Sharbel Church by Chorbishop Michael Thomas. On October 11, 2015 he was ordained Deacon by the imposition of the

hand of Bishop Gregory Mansour.

Over the years the organizations of St. Sharbel Church have steadily grown beginning with the Pastoral

Council which is made up of six to twelve parishioners including four Ministries – Liturgies & Mysteries,

Formation & Heritage, Parish Life & Pastoral Outreach, and Communication & Media. Also expanded

over the years are the Maronite Youth Organization (MYO), Mary's Young Adults (MYA), Knights of Mary

(children 8-11), Immaculate Ladies Sodality, and the Knights of St. Sharbel. In addition, Maronite

Christian Formation (MCF) classes are held every Saturday for Kindergarten, First grade and First

Communion, as well as, the Knights of Mary. New in 2023 is a Toddler MCF class held once a month.

Also on Saturdays, Arabic classes are held.

Realizing the potential of the next generation, St. Sharbel Church keeps its focus on its youth. Special

attention has been given to them, specifically when the church awards the top high school graduates

with annual scholarships. The establishment of several scholarship funds has been very successful and

continues to grow.

One milestone for the Parish was the establishment of St. Sharbel Cemetery. Many parishioners

expressed the need for a Maronite Cemetery. Msgr. Maroun thoroughly researched this idea and was

met with many obstacles from city government and the community to establish a new Maronite

Cemetery. He found the best way to proceed would be to request a section inside of the Catholic

Resurrection, Cemetery of the Diocese of Metuchen. He sent a letter to H.E. Bishop Hues requesting a

section for Maronites at the Resurrection Cemetery. One week later, Bishop Hues granted six acres of

land to St. Sharbel Church at no cost to the parish. In the center is a replica of Our Lady of Lebanon

Harissa, donated by Mr. Salah Hayek and family. It is surrounded by the symbols of Lebanon, the eternal

cedar trees.

One of the major annual events is the Lebanese cultural festival, which brings all Lebanese and many

non-Lebanese together under the pretext of celebrating Lebanon's rich and historic culture.

St. Sharbel Church has been blessed with an active community of 470 families and is growing. In 2019,

plans for a new church were finalized. In August 2022, the architectural and building plans were

approved.

With the help of God, the church has been able to purchase several houses adjacent to the church

property, in order to build the new church. In May of 2001, 7 Reeve Street was purchased by the

Church, followed by 6 Franklin Boulevard in May of 2002. In August of 2013, 11 Reeve Street was

purchased, followed by 217 Blake Street in June of 2019 and 14 Reeve Street in September of 2019.

Finally in March of 2020, 10 Franklin Boulevard was purchased for use as the Rectory.