Our Purpose

The Chapel Without Walls was founded to provide a community of faith for inquisitive, open-minded people who are unaffiliated with any local congregation, or who wish to worship with us in addition to their participation in another local church. We held our first service on the first Sunday in January of 2004. After using two other facilities, we moved to Temple Beth Yam in October 2006. Through the grace of God and the kindness of Congregation Beth Yam, we trust this shall be our permanent home until the end of time or the complete submersion of Hilton Head Island, whichever comes first.

The Chapel is nondenominational, inclusive, progressive worship community dedicated to worship and personal Christian service. Worship is at the center of our life together; individual Christian action is the center of our life apart. We are Christian believers committed to all of God's people in all of God's world.

We have consciously been founded as a chapel, not a church. Our primary institutional purpose is to worship God. We shall permanently remain a limited-service chapel rather than a full-service church. We call ourselves The Chapel Without Walls, first, because we shall always try to refrain from walling anyone in or out with doctrinal barriers and second, because we shall never construct walls around any permanent worship structures.

Worship in The Chapel is traditional. Hymns and other music are usually chosen from the rich library of classical church music, which is in keeping with our intention of providing worship that is inspiring, thought-provoking, and transcendent. The Chapel primarily emphasizes three activities each Sunday: worship, fellowship (by means of our coffee time), and educational discussions (by means of our forums).

The Chapel Without Walls especially addresses its appeal to progressive-minded people who may be skeptical of institutional Christianity, but nonetheless want the opportunity of Christian worship. We purposefully have no membership roll. Your committed attendance puts you on the mailing list for the Friends of the Chapel. We are very grateful for your presence in our worship service.