Grounds Closed · Wayfarers Chapel

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2024-09-11T00:00:00-07:00

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Grounds Closed

November 23, 2023

The chapel and grounds will be closed. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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On Sunday, May 19th, Rev. Dr. David Brown and Rev.

On Sunday, May 19th, Rev. Dr. David Brown and Rev. Robert McCluskey led a group of Wayfarers Chapel parishioners to participate in a "memorial service" for the chapel. Dr. Brown began the ceremony in recognition of the millions of lives that had been spiritually transformed over the 73 years of Wayfarers Chapel. The chapel will always be remembered as sacred grounds and an iconic mid-century modern masterpiece of architecture. Participants included someone from the Waring family, where Wendy Waring recalled attending the chapel cornerstone unveiling in 1949, two years before the chapel opened in 1951. Rev. Dr. Amanda Riley, lead pastor at the Garden Church in San Pedro, was in attendance as well. The Wayfarers community is committed to preserving the historic chapel and giving it a resilient future.

https://www.wayfarerschapel.org/wayfarers-chapel-restoration/

#wayfarerschapel #savewayfarerschapel

July 16th, 1949 ~ Celebrating the 75th Anniversary

July 16th, 1949 ~ Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Cornerstone & Consecration of the Building Site to Wayfarers Chapel.

While we are saddened by the recent developments of the Chapel, we look forward to rebuilding and serving the community for another 75+ years.

The Chapel’s cornerstone has not been cut or shaped in any way except by nature. Just as the builders were about to give up finding a stone of natural triangular shape to fit in with the Chapel design, a worker from a nearby estate provided a rock he had found and saved years earlier. The actor Charles Laughton read from the 107th Psalm during the dedication service, ending with verse 30: “Then they were glad because they had quiet and God brought them to their desired haven.” The biblical imagery of the first and last, the Greek letters alpha and omega (A Ω), are carved into the cornerstone.

#wayfarerschapel #savewayfarerschapel

The first phase of the Wayfarers Chapel disassembl

The first phase of the Wayfarers Chapel disassembly is now complete and the team has successfully salvaged the most vulnerable elements of the landmark chapel: redwood, steel, glass, and roof tiles. Wayfarers Chapel and the surrounding grounds are now closed due to the momentum of local land movement, non-historic buildings on site have been removed, and the last remaining historic elements to be salvaged are the Palos Verdes stone walls of the chapel, other historic site elements such as the stone fountain, and the bell tower.

As the Portuguese Bend landslide accelerates at an unprecedented rate it is important to safely remove the bell tower as soon as possible. At roughly 80 feet high, and with the dangerous site conditions, it is not possible to carefully salvage the materials of the bell tower in the same way as the other chapel materials. Scaffolding and large cranes cannot safely be used on site. Easily removable objects on the bell tower such as the cross, roof tiles, bells, interior spiral stair, and Palos Verdes stone that is reachable from grade will be salvaged and stored for reuse, and the tower itself will be removed.

According to Katie Horak, Principal at Architectural Resources Group @arg.create , “All possible options for salvaging the bell tower have been explored by the design team. Safety continues to be our number one priority, and given the circumstances of the land movement we continue to see on site, it is imperative that the bell tower is removed as soon as possible.”

Read More: Link in Bio

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A major first phase of the disassembly of Wayfarer

A major first phase of the disassembly of Wayfarers Chapel has been completed. We all are grieving the sudden loss of our beloved Chapel as it once was. The significant elements including the cornerstone and baptismal font are being preserved. All component parts will be stored at a safe location until they can be reassembled.

Additional work to dismantle other structures on campus, including Hallelujah Tower, will continue in coming weeks. Even since our last post a few weeks ago, there has been more land movement around campus that continues to damage the property.

The Wayfarers community is committed to preserving the historic chapel and giving it a resilient future.

Please visit our donation pages to help save Wayfarers Chapel (LINKS IN BIO)

#wayfarerschapel #savewayfarerschapel

The chapel disassembly is near completion with the

The chapel disassembly is near completion with the redwood bents removed this week. Additional historic elements of the chapel will carefully be disassembled in the coming weeks. The Wayfarers community is committed to preserving the historic chapel and giving it a resilient future.

📸: @arg.create

Please visit our donation pages to help save Wayfarers Chapel (LINKS IN BIO)

#wayfarerschapel #savewayfarerschapel

Work to disassemble Wayfarers Chapel continues. Th

Work to disassemble Wayfarers Chapel continues. The team has been cataloguing and documenting each piece, preserving as much of the chapel’s original materials as practicable, and relocating all component parts to a temporary safe location until they can be reassembled.

As you can see in the current photos, the iconic glass has been removed to start the deconstruction process along with critical elements of the chapel structure. Numerous trees have been removed, along with the roof of the colonnade, and glass loggia.

There is also significant damage to the Visitors' Center and the parking lot continues to feel the brunt of the ongoing landslide.

Note that 20 rose bushes were saved by parishioners last week when the garden was removed. As a part of the chapel disassembly process, the bricks are currently being preserved and stored. They will be a part of the chapel reopening.

The Wayfarers community is committed to preserving the historic chapel and giving it a resilient future.

Please visit our donation pages to help save Wayfarers Chapel (LINKS IN BIO):

https://www.wayfarerschapel.org/donate/online-giving/

https://www.gofundme.com/f/wayfarers

#wayfarerschapel #savewayfarerschapel

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