MCINTOSH COUNTY, Ga. — It’s Christmas Eve and many people across the world are heading to evening church services or a midnight mass.
Metro Atlanta is blessed with many prominent churches and mega-churches that can seat thousands, but Channel 2’s Bryan Mims made a pilgrimage of sorts to a small town south of Savannah, where one church is a big attraction for being very small.
Mims’ journey took him to McIntosh County taking U.S. 17, the old Coastal Highway.
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The road cuts a mostly straight and narrow track through the palmetto and pine trees and a profusion of Spanish moss in the Georgia lowlands.
During the drive, if you blink, you’ll miss a tiny house of God, smaller than most bedrooms and fit snugly in place in the shadow of might oaks.
The trip through the quieter part of Georgia took Mims to Christ’s Chapel, a 10 foot by 15 foot church in the woods.
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For those who choose to step over it’s threshold, you’ll catch 12 chairs and a pulpit inside, waiting ready for monthly services.
On the pulpit and on a bulletin board nearby are handwritten prayer requests and words of praise from passersby.
Visitors to Christ’s Chapel can ring the church bell, pealing the glad tidings of rest and reflection for the tired, or simply curious, traveler.
Amy Armstrong of Jesup had to go and see the church herself, investigating the big bold claim that it’s the smallest church in America.
Armstrong told Channel 2 Action News that she could “just feel the spirit of the Lord inside.”
The chapel was first built in 1949 by grocer Agnes Harper. County court records show she deeded the church to Jesus Christ.
At times, vandals have hurt the church. About a decade ago, someone tried to burn it down.
Still, the church stands ready to receive visitors and parishioners alike, with local families serving as caretakers and donations paying for its upkeep.
Visitors say it still stirs the soul.
“Very special, very special,” to be in there, Armstrong said. “Especially this time of year.”
Armstrong likes how people can just walk into the church.
“They can just stop and have a moment in this peaceful setting here and come in and leave a gift if they want, say a prayer if they want and just have some peace,” Armstrong said.
Channel 2 Action News checked on some other tiny chapels across the United states that declare themselves the smallest in the country.
At only 190 square feet, Mims said Christ’s Chapel makes a small but mighty case for the title residing in Georgia.
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