THE LITTLE CHAPEL AT THE BEACH

Walking towards Trinity Chapel in Kennebunk Beach last Sunday morning, just before 9, I heard music in the distance and immediately recognized the tune: “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” A “blues rendition” of this old spiritual was being played by local musicians Mark Gunter on keyboard and John Kumnick on electronic upright base, and being performed on the chapel’s sunburned front lawn.

Attending services at this grey-shingled church with its welcoming red door is a summer tradition. It was built more than a century ago as “a place for the people of Kennebunk Beach,” including tourists who typically stayed for a month or the full season at the 50-plus hotels that once ringed the beach. 

When clergy of any denomination visited the area, they were invited to hold a service. But it was not only a place of worship. If an author was in town, or a couple had stories to share from their recently complete Grand Tour of Europe, they were asked to speak. Even today, the chapel is a popular venue for concerts and lectures. 

The interior of the chapel accommodates about 60 people. The decor is “Early Beach” church, with stained glass windows depicting maritime scenes along with a display of wooden ship models, all donated in memory of a loved one. When the steeple bell rings at 9 AM, Sunday service begins.

Because of COVID restrictions, however, we cannot worship inside this summer. But on this balmy sunny morning with a tangy breeze from the nearby Atlantic, I didn’t mind. I took a folding chair from a pile and placed it next to a 3x5” white wooden block, “socially safe” from other white blocks scattered across the lawn. Every congregant wore a mask and sat happily, as did I, tapping toes or swaying rhythmically to Mark and John’s pre-service tunes. We enjoyed our own private concert.

Mark Gunter is a multi-talented musical legend in the Kennebunks, and part of a group called The Windmills who perform near-nightly at restaurants and other local venues. His cohort John Kumnick used to jam with David Bowie and, catch this, Cindi Lauper! This is no fly-by-night garage band. Later in the service, when they played a blues rendition of “Abide With Me,” I ran out of Kleenex.

Like so much else in our upside-down world these days, the actual church service was different. We sang no hymns. We didn’t hug or greet other worshippers during “the Peace.” There was no communion. We said the usual prayers and heard readings from the Old and New Testaments but what stood out for me was the minister’s message: “Take heart and do not be afraid.” 

With more than 160,000 deaths in the United States attributed to the coronavirus, with COVID cases still rising across the country, with schools shutting their doors or opening only a day or two a week, with economic uncertainty looming everywhere, and with anxiety about what’s going to happen this fall and winter, “take heart and do not be afraid” are words to heed. 

I’m trying to. 

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Thanks you, Ken Janes, for taking the photos of Trinity Chapel.