Our History

Our roots trace back to the 1930s, when a businessman named Tom Allen started a youth outreach in a vacant chapel on Jacksonville Road in Lincoln Park, New Jersey. This growing movement was soon incorporated as Jacksonville Chapel, a church that built on its youth ministry to begin serving all generations. In a culture where people were increasingly left cold by the formality of traditional religion, Jacksonville Chapel became known as a different kind of church—one that embraced historic Christianity in a way that people could grasp and live out in practical ways.

More than 80 years later, The Chapel has never lost its emphasis on serving the next generation and approaching faith in practical ways. But we have now grown into a thriving church community that meets in Lincoln Park, Wayne, and Online. We are grateful for our rich history and confident that our best days are ahead.

Our Mission

Building a family of Christ-followers who love God, love people and serve the world.

Our mission flows from two of Jesus’ most foundational teachings, known as “The Great Commission” and “The Great Commandment.” In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), Jesus commissioned his followers to go and make disciples—in other words, to be so committed to the flourishing of other people that we actively help them to follow and serve Jesus. And in the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40), Jesus stated that our most important ethical responsibility is the scriptural call to love God and love our neighbor.

We are passionate about our mission, which guides our church in two distinct ways:

- First, it expresses our METHOD: we transform people into Christ-followers by creating environments where people love God (worship), love people (fellowship) and serve the world (service).
- Second, it expresses our MEASURE: we know someone is being transformed into a Christ-follower when their life increasingly reflects a love for God, a love for people, and actions that serve the world.

Our Values

GRACE. In a word, grace means “gift.” This is a massively important concept to us because we believe all good things in life—from the simple provision of daily bread to the breathtaking privilege of a relationship with our Creator—are generous gifts from God himself (Ephesians 2:8-9). Far from a dry, theological concept, grace is a way of looking at the world that creates humility, gratitude, and spiritual well-being.

Grace is so central to us that the rest of our values spell G-R-A-C-E.

G-Growing Disciples Intentionally. Our ministries are designed to help people become more like Jesus.
R-Reaching Neighbors and Nations. There is both a local and global reach to our mission.
A-Authenticity. We are honest about our imperfections and our constant need for God’s grace.
C-Commitment to Future Generations. We’re passionate about investing in, listening to, and empowering the next generation.
E-Expository Teaching. We allow the content of the Bible to drive our message.