The Church of the Three-Mile Run

Guiliam Bertholf, ordained in 1693, helped construct the church. Rev. Bertholf spent most of his time traveling from church to church. He preached at the Church of the Three-Mile Run only twice a year. After establishing the Church of the Three-Mile Run in 1703, the congregation petitioned church leaders in Holland for their own resident minister. The congregation had their request denied, and they would not receive a permanent minister for another 17 years.  

As the population of the Raritan Valley grew, additional congregations were established. The Six-Mile Run church was erected in 1710, and locals built another church in 1714 on the corner of Burnet and Schureman streets in New Brunswick. At first, the churches operated as one organization, with common leaders. By 1717 a rift emerged, and the churches divided into two governing bodies. The Church of the Three-Mile Run and the New Brunswick churches operated as one, and the Six- and Ten-Mile Run Churches were governed separately.   

In 1720, Reverend Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen arrived from Holland, and became the first resident minister of the Church of the Three-Mile Run. Frelinghuysen was ordained in 1717, and his teachings were considered unacceptable by many members of his congregation. The disagreement centered around Frelinghuysen’s belief in the doctrine of new birth, or a “born again” experience of salvation. According to members of Frelinghuysen’s congregation, his beliefs contradicted the teachings of predestination. Frelinghuysen’s congregation denounced his teachings in a 1723 pamphlet. The conflict persisted for years, and in 1729 a large group tried to bring in another Dutch minister. Their efforts failed, and the church fell into disrepair.  

Frelinghuysen continued to serve the churches, but the occasional minister from Long Island visited to preach and ordain. The churchgoers that disliked Rev. Frelinghuysen had their children baptized by visiting ministers. Rev. Frelinghuysen died in 1748, after holding true to his beliefs and converting many. All five of Frelinghuysen’s sons became ministers. His son John was a pastor of five Reformed churches around the Raritan Valley, and he likely preached at Three-Mile Run. John died in 1754, and there are no records of other ministers serving the church.  

Six-Mile Run and the New Brunswick churches likely absorbed the remaining members of the Three-Mile Run, and services discontinued in 1754. The original structure for the Church of the Three-Mile Run was likely destroyed by British troops as they passed through New Brunswick during the Revolutionary War. The original burial ground still exists near the intersection of How Lane and Route 27 in Franklin Township. A reconstruction of the church was built at East Jersey Old Town Village in 1973.