provided to The Santiva Chronicle
CAPTIVA ISLAND, Fla. – Like many other structures on Southwest Florida’s barrier islands, the historical Chapel by the Sea building has endured the buffeting of hurricanes in the past three years. We have not been able to utilize the space for worship since Hurricane Milton moved the 120-year-old building off the foundation cinder blocks in October of 2024.
Reverend Doug Dortch and the board have employed contractors to “lift and level” the Chapel, and the electricity has been recently restored. We hope our use of the building can begin on Sunday, March 30th, for services at 11 a.m.
You may recall that we only seat approximately 90 people in our pews; the minister and organist will fill the altar space.
So, some of the 200-plus “normal, weekly congregation” will utilize our outdoor seating, which has been the only choice since we began the new Chapel season in November 2024.
Our new “online congregation” (discovered as we utilized the Internet for services during the pandemic of the early part of the decade) has grown into the thousands, as has our friends’ group of over 3,300 “followers” for our Facebook page. We are working with our video provider (Bright Ideas Media) to ensure that our Facebook Live broadcast will also be operational.
The next chapter of the Captiva Chapel will begin on Sunday, followed by next month’s traditional attendance of close to 1,000 worshipers for Easter Sunday. As always, that service will utilize hundreds of comfortable folding chairs. Plan ahead, come early for Easter, and be prepared for parking challenges on one side of Captiva’s roads.
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