The Summer Chapel is a beautiful place of worship tucked away in the valley of the majestic Whiteside Mountain in North Carolina. What we call 'The Summer Chapel' is also known as The Whiteside Cove Community Center. The Summer Chapel is of the Episcopal Denomination. Everyone is welcome
History by Founding Chaplain The Rev. Jim Theus
2015 marks the end of our eighteenth year season of worship in the Cashiers/Highlands area of the Diocese of Western North Carolina. In 1996 I went to Bishop Johnson, the Rectors of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Cashier and the Church of the Incarnation in Highlands and their Vestries asking permission to begin a new work within this diocese. Permission was quickly granted along with a loan of $1,000 from the diocese as start-up funds.
A suitable building was found to rent which was half-way between the sponsoring parishes, located on Whiteside Cove Road. The owners of the quaint one room school house are descendants of the Norton family who called themselves “The Whiteside Cove Church and Community Center.” Our rent was $50 per Sunday; attendance was around 50-75 persons.
In the beginning, the music was modern Christian Praise Music based on the Cursillo movement This musical style shifted to the Old Time Appalachian Blue Grass Gospel style and familiar old Protestant hymns. Mark Lassiter, our current piano player and music director, began to assemble his band, and it grew into a seven-piece band which continues with basically the same musicians today.
Attendance grew rapidly to the point that the tiny building could not hold the congregation of around 150, so a tent was erected adjacent to the building, with the congregation peering through the raised windows and a loud speaker projected to the people under the tent.
The Summer Chapel ends this season ends on a high note. Average attendance this season was 267; our 2.3 acres of property for parking which includes a Parsonage cabin for possible future clergy guests has been paid in full; and we have secured an independent, stand-alone 501(c)(3) non-profit designation for tax purposes with the proper by-laws and articles of incorporation. This ministry was accepted at the 2014 Diocesan Convention under the designation of “An Identifiable Congregation or Chapel” within the Diocese of Western North Carolina
An additional good report includes the preservation of two additional pieces of property which adjoin us. The one acre to the immediate right of the Whiteside Community Building and Church was purchased by an anonymous couple for conservation and preservation purposes. Since all the surrounding land is part of the federal government’s Wild and Scenic Chatooga River corridor, it is protected forever. Also the 9.2 acres beside our 2.3 acres just across the road from the Summer Chapel Building was purchased by our neighbors for the purpose of preservation and conservation. In essence, all who worship at the Summer Chapel now enjoy 13.5 acres which rest beneath both Whiteside and Black Rock Mountains, clearly some of the most beautiful places on God’s good Earth.
My report concludes on the note of prosperity, harmony and beauty. It has been an honor and privilege to be a part of this ministry called “The Summer Chapel.”
Rev. Jim Theus