N.J. Stat. § 16:1-37

This is the official text of N.J. Stat. § 16:1-37, part of New Jersey’s Stat — part of the compiled statutory law of New Jersey, published by the state as "Stat." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Incorporation; certificate; trustees; tenure

Official statutory text

Any diocesan convention, presbytery, classis, synod, annual conference, or other governing body having jurisdiction over a number of incorporated or unincorporated churches, congregations or societies of any church or religious denomination in this state, may, at any stated or regularly convened meeting, elect trustees for the purpose of incorporation. The presiding officer and clerk or secretary of such governing body shall prepare a certificate in writing, under their hands and seals, immediately after such election, setting forth: a. The name or title of such corporation; b. The names of the trustees and their terms of office. This certificate shall be duly acknowledged by the presiding officer and clerk or secretary and shall be filed by them in the office of the secretary of state, whereupon such trustees shall be a corporation by the name mentioned therein, capable of taking, holding, managing, and dealing with real and personal property. Such governing body may elect more than one set of trustees in manner aforesaid, who may become incorporated in like manner, and who shall adopt such names as shall distinguish and designate them, reference being had to the object of their trust. The trustees shall be elected for three years, one or more each year, except that the first trustees shall be elected, one-third of the number for one year, one-third for two years and one-third for three years.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.