Boardwalk Chapel

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Boardwalk Chapel is a summertime Christian Gospel outreach on the two-mile boardwalk on the barrier island of The Wildwoods, New Jersey which holds 77 consecutive evening services during June, July, and August, open to boardwalkers.
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In the early 1940s Rev. Leslie Dunn, pastor of Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Wildwood, New Jersey, walked up and down the boardwalk of The Wildwoods conducting open-air preaching services. He discovered an empty lot towards the southern end of the boardwalk that was to be sold at a citywide tax auction. He persuaded fellow church members to allow him to bid, but no more than US$3,000; Dunn was the highest bidder at $2,950. The Gospel Pavilion, its original name, had been built during the waning months of World War II. Nightly services began in July 1945, a few weeks before Japan's surrender. [Image:RevLeslieDunn01.jpg|thumb|]
Since its inception the Chapel has been operated by the Presbytery of New Jersey of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Its hand-drawn logo depicts the Christian cross rising out of an Atlantic Ocean wave.[Image:ChapelLogo.png|thumb|]
Over the years, the chapel has become a landmark for tourists visiting Wildwood. In 2005 a Washington Post travel article said "People come to Wildwood for its beaches... and for the boardwalk, a roughly three-mile-long human circus of noise, junk food and amusement rides. The boardwalk—part honky-tonk, part family playground—has a few quirks that give it an endearing quality. The... Boardwalk Chapel, between a tattoo parlor and a pizza parlor, has been the voice in the carny wilderness for 61 years."