Join Us For The First Service of Season!
Sunday, November 9 at 11:00 am
Chapel Foundation Update
October 9, 2025: The Chapel's new foundation now shows, but will be landscaped.
Note the new access ramp to right of the front stairs.
Note the new access ramp to right of the front stairs.
A Solid Foundation For Our Chapel
September 10, 2025
February of 2025: After the "wedding plantings" had been donated
 October 2024: Immediate aftermath of Hurricane Milton
August 2025: Foundation and concrete block columns
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When we left the Captiva Chapel season at the end of April, we had the benefit of some bountiful shrubbery from a wedding of Chapel benefactors earlier in the season. Those shrubs covered our "work in progress" with steel beams and railroad tie supports stacked beneath our "raised and leveled" Chapel building.
During the intervening time, we have worked with Davie Shoring and our own construction manager, Bob Johnson, to obtain permits, do some strengthening work on the joists and pour a strong, new reinforced concrete foundation plus reinforced block columns. The recent photos show the end of the Davie Shoring contract with our new stairway leading both front and back to the entries. More work needs to be done this fall to repair the siding, build a new rear ramp and a paint job for the entirety. Our utilities will be reconnected, the cameras for our video coverage of the Sunday services will be new or reconnected and all made ready for our first service on November 9th.
Please enjoy Rev Doug Dortch's Summer Devotional mini-sermons, which have graced our Facebook page during this summer season. Thanks so much for keeping our Chapel family together, Doug, during our off-season times. We long to be with each other again. |
Kathy Knoblauch & Doug Dortch
Welcome New Board Chair, Kathy Knoblauch
February 24, 2025
board of trustees has elected a new chair for their 15-member board. Kathy Knoblauch of Burnsville, Minnesota, and Sanibel has served as a member of the board and as leader of the Missions Committee for the past few years. Due to the relocation of the former board chair, Ellen Sloan DuMont, the board acted to make this election at a meeting in December 2024.
Kathy and her husband, Terry Ische, of Sanibel have been attending services at the Chapel for 11 years. She had spent time in Sanibel since 1983, when her parents purchased a retirement home here.
Ms. Knoblauch stated, “I currently chair the Chapel Missions Committee and have found my calling in this ministry. I am very honored to have been chosen to chair the board now.”
Her career as a teacher spanned 34 years…the majority of the time spent with second graders. Kathy and Terry have two sons, Nathan - age 31 and Danny - age 29. Kathy will also serve as an ex-officio member of the Pulpit Committee, which has just begun a search for a new pastor after the planned departure of our current pastor, Doug Dortch, in April 2026.
The Captiva Chapel is an interdenominational Christian church which welcomes all worshippers. The Chapel selects a new pastor every three years, beginning at its founding in 1948. Services at 11:00 am on Sundays commence in November until the end of April each winter season.
February 24, 2025
board of trustees has elected a new chair for their 15-member board. Kathy Knoblauch of Burnsville, Minnesota, and Sanibel has served as a member of the board and as leader of the Missions Committee for the past few years. Due to the relocation of the former board chair, Ellen Sloan DuMont, the board acted to make this election at a meeting in December 2024.
Kathy and her husband, Terry Ische, of Sanibel have been attending services at the Chapel for 11 years. She had spent time in Sanibel since 1983, when her parents purchased a retirement home here.
Ms. Knoblauch stated, “I currently chair the Chapel Missions Committee and have found my calling in this ministry. I am very honored to have been chosen to chair the board now.”
Her career as a teacher spanned 34 years…the majority of the time spent with second graders. Kathy and Terry have two sons, Nathan - age 31 and Danny - age 29. Kathy will also serve as an ex-officio member of the Pulpit Committee, which has just begun a search for a new pastor after the planned departure of our current pastor, Doug Dortch, in April 2026.
The Captiva Chapel is an interdenominational Christian church which welcomes all worshippers. The Chapel selects a new pastor every three years, beginning at its founding in 1948. Services at 11:00 am on Sundays commence in November until the end of April each winter season.
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Donation Success
February 24, 2025 The Chapel has been officially a church for 75 years and a schoolhouse for almost 50 years before. Storms have shaken it, but it could not withstand three hurricanes in two years…it was pushed off its foundation in October of 2024 by Hurricane Milton. We are almost to the end of our period of recovery with the recent “lifting & leveling” of the building by Davie Shoring Co. The grand total of our costs of recovery will be over $500,000. The Chapel has benefited by the spontaneous donations by many, but these past few months have seen extraordinary donations. Recently, two large gifts and a challenge grant have enabled the Chapel to exceed the $500,000 mark in collections for the Recovery Fund. The November challenge grant matching for $80,000 was achieved in about two weeks. Last fall the Bank of the Islands founders, Robbie & Geoff Reopstorff, gave a generous donation to begin our Recovery Fund as the Chapel season began in November of 2024. Our most recent large donation was from the Pine Rock Foundation – a long-term philanthropic partner of other island organizations. |
The Chapel board is in awe of our congregation’s kindness and caring in our time of need. Many thanks are due and we are hoping to use the building for worship before the end of our season at the end of April.
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Restoration Update
The restoration of our historic Chapel has begun, and we are anticipating its completion at some point toward the
end of this Chapel season. Along the way, we anticipate some adjustments and upgrades that will be required but we are prepared to address them as they show up. Continue to keep our contractor, Davie Shoring, our Building and Grounds Committee, and our Maintenance Supervisor, Bob Johnson, in your prayers as we proceed with this project. |
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Chapel Light Hanging December 1, 2024 By Doug Dortch We had an intrepid crew of a dozen people including our own Pastor Doug, who dared the ladder-climbing part of this exercise. Dick Pyle, our former (and award-winning) light leader, was unable to attend this year…but he provided a lunch from the local Island Store. |
Pastor Doug with the Dugan's - Lynne, our music director and her husband, Bob, who has been our volunteer sound man for years.
A New Season
November 8, 2024
By Doug Dortch
As we begin another new season at Captiva Chapel by the Sea, we once again face a momentous challenge, one that will require us to dig deeply not just to extricate sand drifts from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, but also to get rid of the despair and disillusionment that storms like these tend to layer upon our souls. This coming season will no doubt involve unforeseen questions and responses. Of course, some we know.
“What must we do to repair the damage to the Chapel and adjacent properties?”
“How much will it cost?”
“What do we do about worship in the meantime?”
Others are yet to be confronted. As we approach all these questions, I invite you to join me in doing so from the standpoint of faith. As I have shared on many occasions, faith is what believers do in the face of seemingly insurmountable circumstances. Faith always involves walking to the edge of the light we have, and then taking one step more. As the Apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to the church at Corinth, believers ultimately “walk by faith and not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7.
If we approach whatever arises in this light, not only will the coming months involve unforeseen tests, they will also hold unforeseen opportunities – opportunities to experience God’s blessing and then opportunities to extend those blessings to others. Only faith will ensure that neither can be missed and will confirm our confession that Captiva Chapel by the Sea is “a place where God lives,” a conviction that no calamity or disturbance can ever take away. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to begin.
Captiva’s Chapel by the Sea will hold outdoor services this season as repair work continues.
Milton Damages Captiva Chapel,
But Not Its Spirit Of Worship
October 26, 2024
By Chip Roach
Captiva’s Chapel by the Sea will hold its first service of the season at 11 a.m. Nov. 10 in the yard. Pastor Doug Dortch has a theory: “This is a time when worshiping together helps the community to heal from the two hurricanes in October, plus the residue of sadness from 2022’s storm.”
The Chapel is very comfortable with “outside services” where the minister can be seen and heard, in addition to the peace of nature with breezes, Ospreys, Pelicans, and the sound of the Gulf enhancing the hour of worship.
But Not Its Spirit Of Worship
October 26, 2024
By Chip Roach
Captiva’s Chapel by the Sea will hold its first service of the season at 11 a.m. Nov. 10 in the yard. Pastor Doug Dortch has a theory: “This is a time when worshiping together helps the community to heal from the two hurricanes in October, plus the residue of sadness from 2022’s storm.”
The Chapel is very comfortable with “outside services” where the minister can be seen and heard, in addition to the peace of nature with breezes, Ospreys, Pelicans, and the sound of the Gulf enhancing the hour of worship.
All Are Welcome
Captiva Chapel by the Sea is where all are welcome regardless of their religious beliefs. We are an interdenominational ministry serving South West Florida's winter season and are recognized in the National Register of Historic Places.
Captiva Chapel By The Sea nurtures a strong community within and we also are committed to supporting mission outreach in the broader community.
There is no membership roster at our church, yet a motivated and enthusiastic group of volunteers manage to get things done "in God's time."
Historically, Captiva Chapel By The Sea has relied solely on support provided entirely by Sunday plate collections and voluntary gifts. With your support, we continue that tradition today.
Captiva Chapel By The Sea nurtures a strong community within and we also are committed to supporting mission outreach in the broader community.
There is no membership roster at our church, yet a motivated and enthusiastic group of volunteers manage to get things done "in God's time."
Historically, Captiva Chapel By The Sea has relied solely on support provided entirely by Sunday plate collections and voluntary gifts. With your support, we continue that tradition today.
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No matter where you are in the world or what path you’ve taken in your journey, when you have a prayer request, we are here for you. Just click the button below to email our confidential prayer team.
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Captiva Chapel by the Sea relies solely on voluntary donations to fund our Mission Outreach commitments and the year-round maintenance of this sacred and historic space. No matter the amount, we thank you!
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