Christian group temporarily opens beaches it has closed on Sunday mornings as court fight plays out

OCEAN GROVE, N.J. (AP) — Beachgoers were out on the sand of one New Jersey shore community on a Sunday morning before Memorial day for the first time in generations amid a battle over a Christian religious group’s Sunday morning beach closures. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a Methodist group that established a Christian seaside retreat in 1869, had closed its beaches on Sunday mornings during its religious services. The state Department of Environmental Protection threatened fines, accusing the group of violating state beach access laws. So the group said it would temporarily drop the closure amid the court fight.