Who We Are
Our Story
We are honored you have taken time to learn more about The Chapel and our purpose. We want to be sure you have a good understanding of why we exist and what the Lord has placed in our hearts to do.
We began in the winter of 2020 as a small group of 18 people meeting in a weekly Bible study. We would regularly bring our favorite snacks, drink coffee and eat desserts as we discussed planting a church in central PA. In March of 2020, everything shut down for us as we experienced what so many experienced, the global pandemic that rocked our world. We moved to virtual Bible study and the attendance and commitment to our small group continued. We were focused and determined to do what God called us to do. After 11 months of rich fellowship and detailed planning, we scheduled to launch the church in January 2021. Our vision for The Chapel was always to become a multi-ethnic, multi-class, and multi-generational church. We believe the church is strongest and most versatile when we have faithful, Christ-centered congregations scattered throughout the world proclaiming the gospel of Jesus. And this is what we wanted to plant. However, we did not plant The Chapel because we believed there were no faithful churches in Central Pennsylvania. We planted The Chapel because we knew there was a need for more faithful churches in central PA.
We hope and pray as you learn more about The Chapel that you will support us through prayer as we seek to fulfill the mission God has given us. Thank you!
Our purpose
There is not only diversity in ethnicity, language and socioeconomic backgrounds but there is also diversity of opinion amongst us. Let’s be honest, we are polarized politically & declining morally. Although this is true, we seldom agree on what the solution is for the state of our existing culture. However, there is a solution to this growing cultural darkness: Jesus Christ and the beacon of hope he has given us, the local church. The church is the one place that is called to be a faithful light, ready “…to bring good news to the poor…to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” (Isaiah 61:1)
This is our calling and purpose.
Our Beliefs
We believe in one God eternally existing as one essence and three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each of whom is fully God, yet there is one God. (Matthew 28:18-20)
We believe that God created the world from nothing and governs all things in all times in all places. (Genesis 1:1-2; Psalms 24:1)
We believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the perfect revelation of who God is. Jesus Christ is the “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), the “perfect reflection of God the Father.” (John 5:19)
We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit is our helper. We believe the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin in order to drive us to Jesus Christ for our salvation. The Holy Spirit teaches us all things and brings things back to our remembrance. (John 14:25, John 16:12-15)
We believe that all humanity is created in the image of God and possesses intrinsic dignity and worth. God made humanity male and female in His own image. (Genesis 1:27-30)
We believe the Scriptures, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, are the inspired Word of God and are therefore without error in their original writings. (II Timothy 3:16-17)
We believe that sin has fractured all things, leaving the world in desperate need of salvation. (Genesis 3)
We believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. (Hebrews 10:19-25)
We believe that the Church is the body of Christ sent into the world to shine forth the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 12:12-31)