Boardwalk Chapel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Boardwalk Chapel (most often referred to as "The Boardwalk Chapel") is a summertime Christian Gospel outreach on the two mile boardwalk on the barrier island of The Wildwoods, NJ. Unique in that it is sandwiched between a pizzeria on the left and a gift shop/henna tattoo parlor on the right, its wide entrance offers thousands of board walkers the opportunity to move freely in and out of any one of its 77 consecutive evening services held during June, July, and August.

In the early 1940s Rev. Leslie Dunn, pastor of Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Wildwood, NJ, walked up and down the boardwalk of The Wildwoods conducting open-air preaching services. He discovered an empty lot towards the southern end of the boardwalk that was to be sold at a city wide tax auction. After pressing his vision for a pavillion at that location, he was allowed by fellow church members to bid on the property but for no more than $3000.00. The bidding moved quickly in $50.00 increments up to $2900.00. Rev. Dunn bid $2950.00. After a moment of silence the auctioneer announced that the property was Rev. Dunn's. The Gospel Pavilion, its original name, was built during the waning months of WW II. The nightly services were begun in July 1945 a few weeks before Japan’s surrender in the Pacific.

Since its inception the Chapel has been operated by the Presbytery of New Jersey of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Its hand drawn logo depicts the Christian cross rising out of an Atlantic Ocean wave.

{Sources: 1. "Salvation By the Sea" an article in The Presbyterian Guardian, pages 339-340, Dec. 10, 1945 by Rev. Leslie Arden Dunn -- A note on the history of the Presbyterian Guardian can be found at the website of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church http://www.opc.org/today.html?history_id=35; 2. A history of the first fifty years of the OPC titled "The Orthodox Presbyterian Church 1936-1986" (ISBN 0-934688-35-4) references the work of the Boardwalk Chapel on pages 134-135; 3. The Boardwalk Chapel website references the passing of Rev. Leslie Dunn on 6/26/2001 http://www.chapelopc.org/Dunnmemorial.htm }