Girdwood Chapel
About Us
A faith community with a heart for our neighbors, Girdwood Chapel has been striving to Love God, Love Others, and Change the World since 1951. Our congregation represents a variety of denominational backgrounds, everyone is welcome!
The mission statement of Girdwood Chapel originates from these words and remains; “Love God. Love Others. Change the World.” Over the years, this mission has been in the forefront of our studies, our planning, our decision making, and the actions we have taken in service to our community.
Girdwood Chapel has a unique position in the community as the only congregation with a church building and a pastor living and working in the community. Because of this distinction, our pastor is able to serve the community in multiple ways.
Our Pastor
Nico Reijns was appointed to serve with us here in Girdwood and the Turnagain arm area starting in July 2019. He, his wife Laura, and their dogs (Calvin & Addie) arrived after serving churches in Seattle and Anchorage. Nico has also served in campus ministry at Boston University and for many years in camping and retreat ministries in Washington. Pastor Nico is an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church.
Rent Our Chapel
The Chapel is available for rent for weddings, celebrations, dinners and meetings.
Worships and Gatherings
As a congregation, we have worked together in service to our community. Once a month we collect “noisy change” and give it to people and organizations in need. We’ve also implemented a Teen Ministry that has been met with wonderful success, averaging 15 teens every other weekend. This ministry feeds, educates, and provides a safe place for teens from 5th grade to high school,
We currently worship on Sundays at 10:30 am via Facebook and Zoom. There are also multiple online events during the week. To learn more about our weekly activities, please visit our Worships and Gathering Webpage. If you do not yet have a church home, we hope that you will find it here with us here at Girdwood Chapel!
Food Pantry
We host the food pantry with a hot meal once a month and twice a month during the resorts offseason. We also provide a community meal once a week during that time. Those weekly meals serve about 20 people. We organize and co-host the community Thanksgiving dinner. This year there were about 500 folks served. We’ve begun work to renew and improve the Community Garden.
Donations
If you would like to give, your generosity is greatly appreciated. Please see our Donation Page.
Location
We are located in Girdwood, Alaska and our address is 102 Heavenly Valley Drive. You will find us at the corner of Alyeska Highway and Timberland Drive.
