On the north end of Tybee Island, just off Butler Avenue at 9th Street, a small Baptist congregation has been gathering for worship for nearly eighty years. Chapel-by-the-Sea Baptist Church, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, sits at 811 Butler Avenue and reaches a community that includes year-round islanders, regular vacationers, and the snowbirds who return each season. The church welcomes all three groups warmly, and its identity is shaped by a clear pulpit ministry, a love of Scripture, and a long list of ministries that serve both the congregation and the wider world.
From a PX Building at Fort Screven to a Heritage on Butler Avenue
Chapel-by-the-Sea began as a mission and ministry of Immanuel Baptist Church on January 25, 1948, with forty-eight charter members. The first meeting place was the vacated Post Exchange building at Fort Screven, where a fierce and determined flock of believers gathered under their first pastor, Rev. R.C. Johnson. The members soon set their sights beyond the temporary quarters and purchased lots on Butler Avenue for a permanent home. Christmas Eve of 1961 was the first time a worship service was held as the new buildings began to take shape, and on November 22, 1966, the congregation celebrated the completion of the new vestibule and broke ground for a new annex, which was dedicated on September 11, 1988.
The congregation marked seventy years of ministry on January 28, 2018, calling the day Heritage Day, and in January of 2023 celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary. A full roll call of pastors lines the church's history page, beginning with R.C. Johnson (1948 to 1949) and moving through fifteen successors, including Walter Barfield, Pat Quattlebaum, Truman A. Moore, Cecil G. Mitchum, Robert E. Connely, Luther E. Burton Jr., Byron Twigg, Norman R. Ferrell, and others, before arriving at the present pastor in 1992.
Pastor-Teacher Dr. David C. Laughner and Thirty-Four Years in the Pulpit
Dr. David C. Laughner has been leading Chapel-by-the-Sea since 1992, making him one of the longest-serving pastors in the church's history. Known throughout the church family and the surrounding community as a "Pastor-Teacher," Dr. Laughner's ministry centers on the pulpit, where he is known for strong expository preaching of God's Word. His broader ministry extends beyond Tybee Island to include revivals, conferences, and prophecy seminars. As the church looks ahead, the congregation and its pastor are excited about the many ways this small island church can continue to lift up the name of Jesus.
Sunday on Butler Avenue: Bible Study, Worship, and an Evening Service
The rhythm of the week at Chapel-by-the-Sea gathers around three Sunday touchpoints. Adult Sunday Morning Bible Study begins at 9:00 AM, followed by the Sunday Morning Worship Service at 10:00 AM. Children's Church is held during the morning service, allowing parents to attend worship while their children receive age-appropriate instruction. On Sunday evenings, the congregation gathers for fellowship in the fellowship hall at 5:30 PM, where food, coffee, and tea are always available. The Sunday Night Service follows at 6:30 PM.
Worship services are presented as live audio broadcasts. The broadcast is shared Sundays at 10:00 AM and on Wednesday and Sunday evenings at 6:30 PM. Audio recordings of past lessons are also made available on the church's YouTube channel, Chapel By-The-Sea Tybee, and recordings can be mailed out on CD, thumb drive, or USB drive on request.
Wednesday Bible Service and Once-a-Month Suppers
Midweek, the church gathers for the Wednesday Bible Service at 6:30 PM. Once a month, on the second Wednesday of each month, the schedule opens earlier with a Wednesday Night Supper served at 5:30 PM in the fellowship hall, giving the congregation a chance to share a meal together before settling into study and prayer.
Tuesday Morning Community Bible Study
In addition to the Sunday Bible study hour, a Community Bible Study meets on Tuesdays from 10:30 AM to noon in the fellowship hall. The relaxed mid-morning format has made it a popular gathering for snowbirds and year-round neighbors alike.
Children's Church and the Next Generation
Chapel-by-the-Sea takes seriously its call to bring children up in the things of God. Children's Church is held during the Sunday morning worship service, and the program is led by Children's Church Director Ginger Laughner along with Christy Dav and Cheryl Horton, who teach on a rotation basis. The teaching team brings ten to twenty-plus years of experience working with children, and their stated goal is to introduce children to God's Word in ways they can understand and to help them learn how to apply Scripture to their lives. The church frames the ministry around Jesus' words in Matthew 19:14, "Suffer the little children...to come unto Me, for such is the kingdom of heaven," and welcomes both members and first-time guests to bring their kids along.
WMU: A Women's Missionary Union on Tybee Island
WMU, the church's Women's Missionary Union, meets once a month on the third Sunday at 5:00 PM. The ladies are currently working through "A Lineage of Grace" by Francine Rivers, a study of five women in the lineage of Christ. The group sends Bibles to countries where people do not have access to Scripture, including China, India, and other Asian nations, and participates in local missions such as collecting socks for nursing home patients. Each year the WMU's end-of-year mission focus is the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for Foreign Missions. New members are always welcome.
Prayer Warriors
Behind the scenes, the church maintains a Prayer Warriors ministry that receives confidential prayer requests from friends and family. The church grounds this ministry in the promise of Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them." Those who submit a request may choose to have it listed with their name, listed without their name, or kept confidential for the pastor alone.
Media and Communications Ministry
The Media and Communications Ministry exists to glorify God through technical support for the church's services and through recording and distributing the teaching and preaching of the church. The team is made up of members of the congregation who take their assignments seriously. Recordings are available in many formats to meet different needs, and the ministry is positioned not as a substitute for in-person worship but as an additional tool to encourage growth in Christ. The team's stated goal is to continue to grow and spread the Word of God, and they welcome prayer and support for that work.
What Chapel-by-the-Sea Believes
The church's Statement of Faith centers on the absolute authority, inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of the Bible as the only infallible Word of God. It affirms one true God known in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the deity of Jesus Christ, who took the form of human man, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died for our sins, rose bodily from the grave, and ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father until His return to set up His kingdom on earth.
Salvation is taught as freely given by God alone, through faith alone, in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone. The church holds to the belief in the eternal security of the believer, taught from the sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit, who glorifies Jesus Christ and brings new life to the believer. All believers will be resurrected to eternal life, and all who reject God's provision of grace through Jesus Christ will face eternal judgment. The church teaches the unity of believers as the body of Christ and the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ rather than mere religion, as well as the power of prayer. Its stated ministry goal is to spread the Word of God to as many lost souls as possible through missions, preaching, and teaching.
Plan of Salvation
The Plan of Salvation laid out on the church's site walks through four steps drawn straight from Scripture: that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, that the wages of sin is death, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, and that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Visitors who wish to respond are invited to pray a simple prayer of confession and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Visiting Tybee Island and Chapel-by-the-Sea
For those vacationing in the Savannah area, traveling through, or living on Tybee Island year-round, the church extends an open invitation to attend a service. The church building is at 811 Butler Avenue, near the corner of 9th Street, with a mailing address of PO Box 235, Tybee Island, GA 31328. The office can be reached at 912-786-4647 or at chapelbytheseatybee@gmail.com. Whether someone is in town for a week or has been coming back for decades, Chapel-by-the-Sea Baptist Church is ready to welcome them to its Bible-centered, expository, missionary-hearted fellowship on the island.