Chapel by the Sea in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, leaves a legacy of service

After Hurricane Ian destroyed Chapel by the Sea’s building in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, the session and Peace River Presbytery made the difficult decision to dissolve the congregation.

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But Chapel’s work, in a community where “the least of these” often go unseen, isn’t done.

A heart for celebration and mission

In the 1930s, before Fort Myers Beach became a destination for snowbirds or spring break revelers, Chapel by the Sea was established. It was the first church on Estero Island, noted Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh in his 2011 history of the church, where he served as senior pastor from 2008 to 2013. Attendance ranged from 70 during Florida’s steamy summers to 1,000 in the winter season.

Photos tell a story of staff meetings in beach chairs, the blessing of the shrimp fleet, costumed celebrations of Talk like a Pirate Day and Communion served on the beach. There were the baptisms at the clamshell baptismal font and in the Gulf of Mexico. And, of course, there were beach weddings.

Then there was the work behind the scenes, such as God’s Table.

“Chapel by the Sea served homeless men and women on Fort Myers Beach 52 weeks out of the year,” said former member and clerk of session Diane Means. “We made them breakfast, we packed them lunch. We did their laundry. We partnered with a coordinating agency to refer them for mental health and health services.”

Chapel also worked with Misión Peniel, a ministry with the farmworker community in neighboring Immokalee, since the organization’s founding 18 years ago.

“(Chapel members) always took time to stop by our place to drop donations and express their regrets for not being able to support us in a more ‘valuable’ way,” said the Rev. Miguel Estrada, executive director. “‘Valuable’ was the specific word used by Bill Turner, who led their volunteers. Time after time I answered him, ‘Do not underestimate the value of every single small action you do in favor of this community. Those are like small mustard seeds that sooner or later will be fruitful, blessing many.’”

Chapel’s building itself, constructed in the 1980s, included touches such as the clamshell, a ship’s bell and a stained glass window with three dolphins representing the Holy Trinity.

Over the years, Chapel experienced the challenges every congregation faces, such as fundraising, building repair and developing leadership. It weathered other hurricanes, including Charley in 2004.

Then, in September 2022, came Hurricane Ian.

Destruction and decisions

The Category 4 storm brought winds up to 150 mph and an 11-foot storm surge that went right through Chapel’s sanctuary and fellowship hall. Most of the building’s contents were lost.

Though none of Chapel by the Sea’s members lost their lives in the storm, as did 149 in Florida alone, many lost their homes.

“A lot of people went back north,” said the Rev. Melana Scruggs, General Presbyter of Peace River Presbytery.

Cypress Lake Presbyterian Church, a few miles away in the city of Fort Myers, opened its doors to the Chapel congregants. Other members worshiped with an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation, which had set up a tent on the island.

Scruggs said Means and husband Tom, who chaired the building and grounds committee, carried the load in Ian’s exhausting aftermath. When Diane Means needed to step down as session clerk, no one stepped up.

“Decision fatigue is a real thing when you're making it for yourself and for the church. You know too much,” Scruggs said.

The presbytery appointed an Administrative Commission to assist and support Chapel’s session in evaluating a swirl of options. An interim pastor had just concluded his ministry with Chapel; would they call a full-time pastor? Join with the Lutherans? Rebuild?

The congregation’s mean age by then was 81, said Jay Mumper, who chaired the Administrative Commission. Though many were healthy and active, they weren’t interested in leadership roles.

The Administrative Commission assumed original jurisdiction, essentially taking over for Chapel’s struggling session. What was left of the building was demolished; decisions are pending on the property.

A few months later, the AC moved that the presbytery dissolve the congregation of Chapel by the Sea as of Sept. 30, 2024. The motion was approved.

“Probably the main issue was the lack of leadership,” Mumper said. “I believe that we tried everything we could to keep it going, but it was just not going to happen.”

Mumper advised church leaders in similar discernment to recognize the buildings are there to serve them — not the other way around — and moreover, to seek God’s guidance.

“I think seeking God's will is huge. Huge. Pray about it and let it go. Let those buildings go,” he said.

The AC’s stated purpose, he said, was to assure Chapel’s pioneering legacy and continue reaching the lost and the keepers and givers of the faith. That’s what guided the commission as it determined the disbursement of real and monetary assets.

Keeping the mission alive

When Chapel by the Sea disbursed its assets, the largest gift — $1.5 million — went to Misión Peniel, which will now be able to find a permanent home.

“This gift catches us at the exact time when we are working to figure out where God is leading us for the next stage as a farmworker ministry,” director Estrada said.

He said the gift from Chapel by the Sea is like the grain of wheat falling to earth, dying and bearing much fruit. “The seed of their love, care, service and generosity for our community can be sown and keep producing fruit that blesses for years to come in a way no one ever imagined.”

Scruggs said other funds from Chapel by the Sea’s assets will go toward new church development and small church sustainability. “It’s getting harder and harder to get insurance down here, and the cost is astronomical,” she said.

Four churches in Peace River Presbytery were significantly impacted by Ian and are still recovering, she added; all are smaller congregations.

The Rev. Dana Waters, the Presbyterian Foundation’s Ministry Relations Officer for the Southeast, praised Chapel’s generosity in the midst of grief and loss.

“Their heart for mission in their community will live on for generations to come,” he said. “The light of Christ shines through the storms — literal and figurative — that their congregation had to endure.”

Chapel funds also procured a refrigeration system for fresh foods for Cypress Lake Presbyterian Church’s food pantry, Diane Means said. Chapel’s cross, ship’s bell and clamshell also went to Cypress Lake, where several former Chapel members worship.

The Dolphin Trinity window that faced the beach went to Covenant Presbyterian Church. Once installed, it will look over the river that dumps into the gulf right in front of where Chapel by the Sea once stood. Chapel’s bells and chimes went to Faith Presbyterian Church in nearby Cape Coral.

“We’re trying to keep the limited physical assets close to where our people still are and where they are needed and utilized regularly in worship,” Means said.

The Dolphin Trinity window can be seen in the video for “Pray Again” by Sheena Brook, a Fort Myers Beach singer and songwriter who also lost a great deal in the hurricane. The video was released on the one-year anniversary of Ian, and parts were filmed in the ruins of Chapel’s sanctuary.

“You find the thing you thought you never needed/Is exactly what you’re starting to believe in,” she sings.