About the Village Chapel
Our Mission: As an independent, interdenominational Church, we unify all Christians through the Word of God, worship God in spirit and truth; teach and encourage the Christian faith; support the spiritual needs of our congregation and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ through community outreach.
An Enduring Vision for Christian Community
As an independent, interdenominational, Christian community, we look to the authority of scripture and the Lordship of Christ in all matters of doctrine and practice. Our mission is founded upon the precepts of worship, learning, and service.
First, The Village Chapel exists to worship God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Together, the Trinity are “worshipped and glorified,” as we, and Christians throughout history, profess in the Nicene Creed. In the Gospel of John, our Lord teaches us, that the Father seeks worshippers (John 4:23). Therefore, we assemble together as a community of worshippers to give God our praise and thanksgiving, and to exalt His name in The Village of Pinehurst and Moore County. The Village Chapel is a place of worship, and we are His worshippers—not only on Sundays, but every day, and everywhere.
Next, we are called to become learners of Christ. Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew, to learn from Him (Matthew 11:29), and He commissioned us to teach people about Him (Matthew 28:20). Christian living is Christian learning. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Christianity without discipleship, is Christianity without Christ.” Jesus desires for us to grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him, so we can be equipped to teach others, sharing the message of the Gospel—learners becoming imitators of Christ.
Finally, we are called to be servants—to serve God and to serve one another. Jesus said that He “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) We are not to be “hearers” of the Word only, but “doers.” (James 1:22) Following the Lord’s example of sacrificial service, we too are to live sacrificially in our service to God, His Church, and others.
Upon these three pillars, is the vision of The Village Chapel founded.
Worship. Learn. Serve.
Rev Dr. Ashley Neil Smith, Senior Pastor
What Makes Us Unique
Unlike most Protestant churches, which were often founded by breaking from other religious groups, The Village Chapel began as a church embracing all Christians, regardless of denomination or tradition. As the original chapel for Pinehurst established in 1898, our identity as The Village Chapel is that of a Christian church singular in its interdenominational mission, pivotal in the heart and center of Pinehurst, and steadfast in devotion to the community we are privileged to serve.
We are a church founded to bring people together, united in the essentials of the Christian faith; tolerant in the non-essentials of doctrine and worship; and charitable in all things. We welcome any and every person seeking truth, healing, fellowship, support within a community of faith, and a Savior.
If you are looking for a church home…
The pastors would like to meet with you at your convenience. The process for membership is simple and straightforward. Once a new member application (one page) is submitted – applications can be requested from our office, filled out online, or found in our visitor folders in the narthex – then, a meeting with a pastor is scheduled. Because we are an interdenominational community – including many Christian faith traditions – we offer dual membership. Dual membership allows you to be a member of The Village Chapel and another church. Also, transfer letters are not required, but can be requested at your behest. We look forward to worshiping, learning, and serving with you and your family, in the days to come.
Our History
Pinehurst’s First Church
NEAR THE GEOGRAPHIC heart of Pinehurst, North Carolina is a church, unique in its beauty, called The Village Chapel. You see it straight ahead as you come down the road from the Pinehurst Country Club, and the first time this happens you may well be impelled to stop and let the beauty of the church framed by the longleaf pines possess your soul. An artist may be at work close by for this is one of the most “painted” churches in the world.
Every Sunday morning the congregation of residents and visitors assembles in the Chapel to affirm the faith of our fathers-and something else as well. That something else is a belief in the ideal of Christian Unity which The Village Chapel embodies in such a unique way. The story of this ideal is threaded through the whole history of Pinehurst. It is the story of a successful effort to have in Pinehurst a place- where community of religious expression might be in harmony with the fellowship that has been a basic principle of the village since its very beginning in 1895.
How We Got Started
James Walker Tufts
James Walker Tufts of Boston, MA, a businessman and inventor of modern soda-fountain machine, he was highly involved in philanthropic work, which lead him to establish a place where people of modest means could vacation. He chose Pinehurst, having been advised that the sandhills’ section of North Carolina held curative virtues in the aromatic breath of the longleaf pine. He bought the land for the Village of Pinehurst from Henry Page Sr. in June of 1895. Tufts’ vision for “a place where religious expression might be in harmony with the fellowship that has been a basic principle of the village since its beginnings in 1895.” He envisioned a place where people of different faith traditions could come together in one place in “Christian unity” to worship.
Rev. Dr. Edward Everette Hale
Rev. Dr. Edward Everette Hale and James Tufts were good friends, and they shared the vision of Christian unity. Rev. Hale was a nephew of the distinguished Edward Everette, the famous Massachusetts statesman, and he was the grandnephew of Nathan Hale, the martyr spy of the Revolution. Rev. Dr. Hale was the minister of the South Congregational (Unitarian) Church of Boston for forty-three years and then Chaplain of the United States Senate from 1903-1909.
He was the Chapel’s first minister. 1896- preached frequently until his death in 1909.
Thaddeus A. Cheatham
In February of 1908, the ministry of Dr. Thaddeus A. Cheatham began. Cheatham’s history with the Pinehurst Religious Association and The Village Chapel would span the next forty-two years. Cheatham was named ‘Minister Emeritus’ in 1950.
Cheatham, about the residents of Pinehurst stated, “There were no religious fanatics among them and they all seemed to have a conviction that religion would be as important in the life of Pinehurst as golf, tennis, or horseback riding. It was as natural for residents to go to the Chapel on Sunday as it was to go to the Country Club on Monday.”
First Places of Worship
Fifteen years into worship, the need for a new Chapel impressed itself upon the people. Cheatham recalls that the impetus really came from Mary Bruce, the sister of Fredrick Bruce (member of the PRA), who owned the “Oaks Cottage” in Pinehurst. The Bruce’s had been absent from Pinehurst for some time. Cheatham heard they had fallen ill and were both in the hospital in New York.
He decided to travel to Washington for a respite and while up that way took a trip to New York to see the Bruce’s. Mary Bruce was overjoyed at Cheatham’s visit and disclosed the fact that she was not going to get better. She told Cheatham that she wanted to do something for the church and therefore made a donation of $5000 to start a building fund for the Chapel. (80,000 today).
Cheatham met with the Directors of the Pinehurst Religious Association the following Sunday and told them of Mary Bruce’s donation. In a matter of twenty minutes, an additional $40,000 was collected by association members who either matched Miss Bruce’s donation or gave more toward the building of a new Chapel.
