Lebanon Chapel

Last Sunday morning was big for lots of us: worship services at Lebanon Chapel resumed for another summer! I know, I know: on the "thrill scale" that may rate somewhere between Lindsay Lohan's party plans and another World Series of Poker tournament, but for those of us who measure life in small pleasures it was a major event.

Every summer our church (St. James Episcopal) has, in addition to its regular schedule of Sunday worship services, two additional services at a little place called Lebanon Chapel. Officially its title is Mt. Lebanon Chapel, built in the early 1830s on Wrightsville Sound to serve those folks who vacationed in the area during the summer months. (A "sound" around here refers to a body of land, as opposed to a "sound" up there which is a body of water.)

As you can tell from the picture above, it's a small, wooden frame building, set in the midst of the lovely 155 acre Airlie Gardens. A neighboring parish (St. Andrew's on-the-Sound) was built in 1923, after which the little chapel was no longer needed and became basically abandoned for 50 years and eventually trashed by vandals.

In the mid '70s the renovation process slowly began, and in 2000 St. James once again held services in the Chapel. There are now, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, three services every Sunday, as well as numerous weddings, baptisms, and special occasions. In my "retired" status I get to enjoy sitting in the congregation, and not having the responsibilities of leading the worship. I'm a happy follower, especially in this comfortable old setting.


Inside, about a hundred people can squeeze in to sit on the plain wooden benches, enjoy the spring fragrance and breeze coming through the open windows, keep an eye on the magnolia and live oak trees dripping Spanish moss, and imagine a horse and buggy convoy delivering more parishioners. There's no music during the simple worship service, and dress is about as casual as you want to make it. (The guy with the dark shirt is our son Jerry, chatting with Ann before the service begins.) You can pick up details of the history and and some more great pictures of Lebanon Chapel at http://www.stjamesp.org/Chapel.html

Two things in particular make these Sunday mornings in the Chapel special for me. For one thing, the dress code is "comfortably casual": sport shirt, khakis, no socks, and boat shoes is the rule for guys, quite a change from the "big church". There a coat and tie is pretty much de rigueur for worship services, so the more casual is a pleasant change. It's also pretty consistent with the Chapel's ambiance, whereas the coat and tie feels right downtown.

Chapel services are special, too, for it gives us a chance to reconnect with old friends who have moved away and yet return every summer to Wrightsville Beach and Lebanon Chapel. It's an extended family reunion, and a wonderful opportunity to get caught up with each others lives. Nor is it unusual to see three, even four, generations worshiping together again in the Chapel. This is an important, even essential, component of our life in this old congregation.

I'm not sure what ecclesiastics or theologians would say about all this, but for me and for many others, Lebanon Chapel in the summertime is a joyful and profound spiritual experience.