Service by the Sea on Captiva Island
Just beyond the Captiva Memorial Library at the corner of Chapin Lane and Wiles Drive, a small white chapel sits among palms, seagrapes, and gumbo limbo trees with the Gulf of Mexico only a few sandy steps away. Captiva Chapel By The Sea has welcomed worshipers to this spot since 1948, drawing a congregation of islanders, seasonal residents, and visitors who come for the warm fellowship, the rolling surf, and a porch-and-pew welcome that famously extends to four-legged family members.
The chapel gathers every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. from the second Sunday of November through the end of April. The single Sunday service blends Scripture, sermon, prayer, and congregational singing with the steady rhythm of gulfshore waves breaking close by. The service is open to all, pets included, and anyone unable to attend in person can join through a livestream on Facebook. The bulletin is offered in large print for those who need it, and greeters are stationed to help with seating, name tags, and the offering plates that fund both the chapel and its far-reaching mission work.
An Interdenominational Tradition That Rotates Its Pastor
Captiva Chapel By The Sea describes itself as an interdenominational Christian congregation, and the label is more than a slogan. The chapel's founders wrote two rules into its bylaws to keep that promise. The first rule requires that no minister of the same denomination as the previous minister be appointed to follow. The second rule requires that a new minister be appointed every three years. Together, those bylaws have shaped a steady rhythm of rotating pastoral leadership that brings a fresh denominational voice into the pulpit every three seasons while keeping the chapel's own identity grounded in the love of Christ.
The chapel's current pastor, Reverend Doctor Doug Dortch, Jr., is a Baptist minister who earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Preaching from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky and an undergraduate degree at the University of Montevallo in Alabama. Before moving into the chapel's parsonage on Captiva for six months of each year, he served as Senior Minister of Mountain Brook Baptist Church in suburban Birmingham (2011 to 2023) and as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Tallahassee (1994 to 2011). He has been active in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship since the mid-1990s. He and his wife Judy split their time between northern Florida and the chapel parsonage, and when they are not working they spend their days golfing and painting, respectively.
The Board of Associates
The chapel is governed day to day by a Board of Associates of fifteen members, elected annually for three-year terms. Board members serve as the heart of chapel life, giving their time and energy to keep the season running smoothly. The current roster includes Kathy Knoblauch as Board President, Nathalie Pyle as Vice President, Dennis Berry as Treasurer, Colin Black as Corresponding Secretary, and Missy Calkin as Recording Secretary. The remaining board seats are filled by Rita Ewell, Don McDonald, Joan Gruver, Janie Adams, Ken Jacobs, Doug Ryckman, Ed Anderson, George Campean, and Marilyn Lewis. Rita Ewell chairs the Hospitality Committee, and Ken Jacobs is the volunteer steward of the chapel's popular Christmas lights display.
Board members come from a wide range of backgrounds. Ed Anderson is a retired attorney and business executive who first attended chapel services in 1979 as a guest of longtime supporters Winifred and Martin Ehlers. George Campean, who emigrated from Romania and once ran a company of five hundred before fleeing a communist regime, founded a volunteer group called The Crew that maintains subsidized housing for CHR of Sanibel. Missy Calkin, a retired music educator, sometimes leads the chapel's singing and also conducts the Sanibel BIG ARTS Concert Band. Dennis Berry plays euphonium in that same band and in a community band back in Vermont.
A 1903 Schoolhouse Becomes a Chapel
The building that holds the chapel was constructed in 1903 as a one-room county schoolhouse, raised by Captiva's farming and fishing families to educate their children. By 1921 the building had been sold by Lee County's Board of Public Instruction to three Captiva citizens who identified themselves as Trustees of the Methodist-Episcopal Church South, and during the school years it doubled as a gathering place whenever a circuit preacher could be brought over from the mainland by ferry. As the island's population grew, the informal Wayside Chapel evolved into what became known as the Chapel By The Sea, with services held more regularly.
The chapel was re-organized in 1948, with H. G. Pearce, D.D., and then Reverend C. W. Kennedy serving as resident ministers for the first November-through-Easter season. In 1952 the chapel incorporated, and in 1954 it was purchased from the Methodist Conference. The parsonage was built in 1965. That same period the bylaws were tightened around the rotating-pastor tradition that defines the congregation today. In 2013 the building and the adjacent school grounds were recognized and added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Captiva School and Chapel By The Sea Historic District.
The chapel's own mission statement sums up the spirit of its founding: a community that seeks to behold the face of God in everything and everyone.
A Mission Church That Gives Away Half Its Offering
Captiva Chapel By The Sea operates as a mission church. There is no membership roster, no tithing expectation, and no dues. Financial support is, and has always been, provided entirely by plate collections and voluntary gifts, both in person and through an online donation page. Nearly half of the offerings go directly to not-for-profit partners in the surrounding community and around the world.
The chapel's Mission Outreach partners reflect a deliberate mix of local and international work, with a focus on children, families, and seniors. Partners include ECHO, a fifty-acre tropical demonstration farm in Fort Myers that trains interns in farming techniques to fight global hunger; the Quality Life Center in Fort Myers, a long-time partner since the mid-1990s led by community teacher Mr. Muhammad; the Dubin Center, which provides training, support groups, and resources for caregivers of people experiencing dementia; the Heights Foundation; El Hogar; FISH of Sancap; Community Cooperative; Trailways Camps; and the Sanibel-Captiva Christian Reformed Church. The Mission Committee meets monthly during the chapel season to evaluate these partners through in-person visits and to recommend new ones.
Captiva's Historic Cemetery Next Door
Just past the chapel, trimmed with white lattice fencing, sits Captiva's Historic Cemetery, a roughly two-acre sacred space deeded to the chapel in 1954 when the building was purchased from the Methodist Church. The first chairperson of the cemetery committee was Beulah Brainerd Wiles, whose family had originally donated the land.
Within the cemetery's perimeter rest grave markers and headstones of some of Captiva's earliest settlers. Austrian-born William Herbert Binder, who shipwrecked his way onto Captiva's shores in 1888 and received the island's first homestead patent in 1896, is buried near a four-year-old girl named Ann Brainerd who traded a small gold coin from her grandparents for the prettiest plot of land she had ever seen. Ann died of tetanus shortly after the sale and was laid to rest in her own purchase. Visitors still leave shells on her lamb-topped tombstone. The cemetery also holds the graves of Confederate veterans George Washington Carter and Henry P. Knowles, as well as those of postmistress Hattie E. Gore, butterfly collector Anita Belle Croft, and Alison Hagerup, the dedicated Captiva Erosion Prevention District administrator who championed the island's coastline and whose memorial is replenished with seashells by friends.
Today, only cremains may be interred, and all markers are plotted to two feet square. To purchase a plot, entomb cremains, or have a name engraved on the memorial wall, an applicant must have a Captiva or Sanibel connection. Names are added to the memorial wall once each year, prior to the chapel's season opening in November. A Cemetery Fund, established in 1966, supports the careful preservation of the grounds, and visitors can drop donations in a small white box just inside the front gate or contribute online.
Christmas Eve by Candlelight
One of the chapel's most beloved traditions is its Christmas Eve candlelight service, first held in 1950 and now enjoyed by locals and visitors from around the globe. The evening service concludes when worshipers inside the chapel join those gathered outside. Each person holds a lighted candle, and Christmas carols are sung while gulfshore waves lap close by. The Christmas lights that draw visitors through the season are hung by volunteers after the Sunday following Thanksgiving and taken down after the Sunday following Epiphany, with Ken Jacobs coordinating the effort each year.
Weddings, Baptisms, and Vow Renewals
Captiva Chapel By The Sea welcomes inquiries about baptisms for individuals of all ages. Couples considering the chapel for a wedding or vow renewal are encouraged to attend a Sunday worship service first to experience the spirit of the congregation. Weddings may be scheduled during the same November-through-April season as Sunday services, with priority given to couples who have a meaningful connection to Captiva, Sanibel, or the chapel community. Scheduling is based on the availability and discretion of Reverend Dortch, and a date is considered confirmed only after the Marriage Information Form is submitted and a non-refundable five-hundred-dollar deposit is received. Ceremony guidelines and the booking form are available as a downloadable PDF from the chapel's contact page.
Getting Involved Through Committees and Sunday Service Roles
The chapel is volunteer-run in nearly every respect, and there is a role for almost any talent or schedule. Sunday-morning service opportunities include serving as an altar flowers volunteer for a specific Sunday, an usher who collects the outdoor offering in the chapel yard, a greeter who welcomes visitors and helps with name tags, a hospitality helper who distributes beverages and cookies before and after the service, or a member of the Prayer Chain, which is contacted by email whenever a prayer need is identified. Visitors and seasonal residents alike pitch in. Hospitality treats may be purchased or homemade, and many attendees bring cookies each week.
Behind the scenes, four standing committees keep the chapel operating. The Buildings and Grounds committee partners with the chapel's Maintenance Manager to care for the chapel, cemetery, garage, and parsonage. The Communications committee manages the chapel's online communications, including the Facebook page, press releases, and informational emails to attendees. The Finance committee oversees fiscal sustainability, insurance, and investments. The Missions committee meets monthly during the season to research and recommend local nonprofit partners for chapel-supported donations.
Accessibility and Visiting Details
The chapel works hard to welcome guests of every ability. Designated accessible parking is available in the shared lot adjacent to the chapel, just off Chapel Way. The parking area is flat, unpaved, and accessible for most mobility devices. A wheelchair-accessible ramp is located on the west side of the chapel, and the main entrance is reached by a level shell path from the parking area. The chapel itself is one level, with wide aisles between pews to accommodate wheelchairs or walkers, and accessible restrooms are available behind the chapel in the shared facilities area. There is no public transportation on Captiva Island, so most guests arrive by private vehicle, taxi, or hotel shuttle.
Large-print bulletins are available at each service; visitors can simply ask a greeter. Ushers and volunteers are on site before services to provide support and guidance as needed. Anyone with specific needs who would like to make arrangements ahead of a visit is invited to call (239) 472-1646 from November through April, or (850) 322-9752 from May through October, or to email the chapel directly.
Faces on Faith, Lenten Devotions, and Summer Reflections
Beyond Sunday mornings, the chapel offers a steady rhythm of devotional reading through the year. Pastor Doug writes a regular column called Faces on Faith, with reflections on patience, gratitude, and the quieter lessons of ordinary days. During Lent he publishes a series of Lenten Devotions that walks through themes like the seven deadly sins, paired with Scripture passages from Colossians, Philippians, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians. After the chapel season closes in the spring, he continues the rhythm with a summer series of short Summer Devotions with Doug, posted to the media library.
Past services are kept in the media library so that anyone who missed a Sunday morning can watch or listen again. The chapel is also active in the wider Sanibel-Captiva interfaith community. It is one of four congregations, along with Bat Yam Temple of the Islands, Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, and Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ, that jointly hosts the annual Interfaith Shared Scholar Program on the islands.
A Chapel That Lives on Gifts and Gratitude
Captiva Chapel By The Sea is, at its core, a simple white chapel with a steep pitched roof, a small fellowship hall, and a Sunday morning routine that has not changed much in generations. There are no membership rolls to join and no tithes to track. Visitors are met at the door by greeters, offered a name tag, and pointed toward a pew or a folding chair out under the palms. The offering plate passes quietly. Some of what is collected keeps the lights on and the building maintained. A great deal more, nearly half, leaves the chapel the same week, sent on to nonprofits that feed children, train caregivers, plant gardens, and house neighbors in need.
That is the chapel's quiet genius. It is a place where history, hospitality, and generosity share the same small footprint on Captiva Island, and where the same rolling surf that sings the congregation in each Sunday also washes a little further out into the wider world.