This Hilton Head congregation is a church ‘without walls’ and meets in new places
It’s not often that a leaf blower interrupts the Word of God.
But in the Chapel Without Walls, it all comes with the territory.
The congregation has been meeting outside at Jarvis Creek Park since May, when their “chapel without walls” became their “chapel without walls without walls” due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On Sunday, a nearby leaf blower whirred in the background as senior Pastor John Miller read the Gospel.
Most of his congregation stood, face masks on, and briefly glanced at the sound’s source before returning to a church service that has creatively fostered community during a time when we’re all encouraged to keep our distance.
Come rain or shine
Aside from those that are landscape related, the Chapel Without Walls service seems to harmonize with the sounds and sights that go on around it.
Birds exchange calls and the wind whistles through massive tree branches in concert with music director Scott Camp’s melodies.
Pairs of walkers on the nearby pathways examine the group — usually between 25 and 35 people — splayed out under the park pavilion in lawn chairs and beach chairs.
“When it is nice, it’s beautiful,” Miller told The Island Packet. “It looks almost ethereal. The scene is really quite remarkable with the Spanish Moss and the leaves and the pines.”
But even when it’s not nice, the group prevails.
In 10 months of meeting outside, Miller said only one Sunday has been a true rainy day — when it poured before, during and after the service. Although some days have been muggy and others have been windy, the congregation has met for the 45-minute service every week.
Rose McGee, who attends each service with her husband, Bill, said she feels comfortable spending time with other people outside and that she wouldn’t go inside for a service even if she could. The Chapel Without Walls is a mix of “historical and intellectual, historical and musical,” McGee said.
Church in a funeral home?
The “Chapel Without Walls” got its name because it includes all denominations and people in its services.
Miller’s order of service pamphlet says the Chapel is an “interdenominational, inclusive, progressive worship community.” He said “there’s a philosophical meaning of the name. We don’t have any doctrine walls to box people in or keep people out.”
But at the same time, the congregation has never had a permanent home. It has met at Hilton Head Middle School, in a motel, the Main Street Theater, Congregation Beth Yam and at the Island Rec Center.
In a time where so many people are searching for community and answers, the group has been uniquely prepared to handle the coronavirus pandemic. Members have found a way to share fellowship and support without sharing germs.
“I would not be inside with a crowd of people right now,” Fran Bollin told The Island Packet. “But we always wear masks here,” and she said she feels safe.
Prior to May, they were meeting indoors at The Cypress in Hilton Head Plantation.
When the pandemic began, the congregation knew they would need spiritual guidance even more as the country faced an endless amount of unknowns.
“I know that other people do feel mad at God, ... and probably more as a percentage have felt that in the last year than ever before,” Miller said. “They just feel that life has turned upside down, and they’re not sure that it’s going to get back to what it was. I don’t think it will.”
When it moved outdoors, the service became one of the only times members of the congregation saw people outside their home. They kept their distance and, Miller hopes, their faith.
When it started to get cooler outside, and windy days made services uncomfortable, the group began thinking about a new place to meet.
Miller scouted around before someone told him he could try holding the services in a funeral home. Exuberant, he brought the news back to the congregation for a vote.
“I thought, ‘It was cold, we’ll take a vote on this and we’ll vote to go there.’ I hadn’t even thought that people wouldn’t want to come to church in a funeral home,” he said, chuckling. The vote was “very strong to stay in the pavilion.”
It may have been the morbidity of it all, but Miller said he thinks it was just a safety precaution to stay outside.
Either way, Jarvis Creek park continues to ring out with a joyful chorus at 9:30 each Sunday morning.
It’s a chorus of masked singers, powerful preachers, messages of optimism in a dark time, and even the occasional leaf blower.
