By 1898 the Chapel was
completed with four hundred seats, the hotel was full, and Dr. Edwin B.
Webb was preaching to two services on Sundays from December to March.
One of the Chapel members wrote in the minutes, “He was a gift from the
hands of a Loving Providence.” Dr. Webb died at eighty years of age in
1900.
Mr. Flagler had heard of an
energetic young attorney and clergyman, Dr. George Morgan Ward, who was
at that time president of Rollins College. He invited Dr. Ward to come
to the Chapel, but he received the reply, “I don’t want to give cream
puff sermons to the idle rich.” Mr. Flagler, whose invitations were
rarely denied, wrote back, “I received your sassy letter, but please
come down anyway and let’s talk.”
Out of that meeting came
five principles: First, the Chapel was to be “nondenominational.”
Second, it was to have the freest pulpit in America. Third, it was to
have the finest preaching. Fourth, it was to have the best music.
Fifth, it was to have no debt.
Dr. Ward started at a
salary of $1,500 for the season (December 1 to Easter) plus room and
board for him and Emma, his wife. The Chapel was essentially “a
religious filling station” for the winter guests, but Dr. Ward made it
an exciting weekly event. At age forty-one the youngest preacher
quickly expanded to two services, filling the building and the lawns
with close to nine hundred worshipers at each service. He was a tall
handsome man, athletic, with blue eyes and a booming voice, with the
ability to make instant and inspired friendships. His sermons were
beautifully structured, but fashioned of simple words, the products of a
master storyteller. Dr. Ward said, “I am no theologian; my beliefs are
few and simple.” He led the Chapel from 1900 to 1931, suffered a heart
attack in the pulpit on Palm Sunday, and died before Easter.
During Dr. Ward’s last
years, a quiet little man, Adam Sarver sat in the congregation. The
Chapel survives today because of this layman, who held the Chapel
together through the turbulent years of the Great Depression and World
War II. He worked with the new pastor, Dr. William Biederwolf, a world
evangelist, Princeton Ph.D., and football player. Dr. Biederwolf’s
sermons were a storm of activity, but he pulled in the crowds, filling
both the Chapel and the lawn. His last sermon, “Wedding in the Sky,”
was delivered February 6, 1939. Later that week he had a fatal stroke.
Adam Sarver stood fast,
calmly keeping the Chapel going. He obtained a series of able preachers,
Dr. Joseph A. Vance, Dr. John E. Charlton, and Dr. Thomas
Brock. Attendance fell because of these frequent changes, war, gasoline
rationing, and tourist restrictions, but Mr. Sarver kept the machinery
going. He served as president of the Board of Directors until 1959, a
total of eighteen years.
In 1949, he persuaded Dr.
Samuel M. Lindsay of Brookline, Massachusetts to serve the Chapel during
the winter months. There was an immediate turnaround. The minutes show
the vigor of Dr. Sam’s personality. Cash flow jumped from $17,490 to
$42,398, the audience doubled, and the congregation found joy in the
services. His sermons expressed his optimistic convictions: “The Land
of Beginning Again,” “Bridges to a Better World,” and “Advantages and
Disadvantages.” He was a practical man, believing that a minister’s job
is to preach the gospel, keep the pew filled and the bills paid, and be
available to those in trouble. He lived to be ninety-nine, always
working for the Chapel. He often said, “The best days of the Chapel are
ahead of us, not behind us.”
The Chapel became involved
in real estate in 1966, when John Stetson, the architect, persuaded Dr.
Lindsay and the congregation to buy the Brelsford home and property for
$140,000. Many thought this was so foolish that they stopped attending
the Chapel. In 1967, the Flagler Museum purchased, from the Florida
Coast Railway, the land surrounding the museum, including the land on
which the Chapel stood. The museum gave the Chapel a five year lease at
one dollar a year – but with no renewals.
It was time to move. Since
the Brelsford property was zoned residential, the Chapel applied to the
Town Council for a “special exception.” It took five years of patience,
perseverance, and skill for Arthur M. Gee, president, and Dr. Lindsay to
obtain the “special exception” which authorized the Chapel to move its
building from Whitehall Way to its fourth and present location. Some
members felt that the Chapel had an obligation to provide Sunday School
and a fellowship hall. They wanted to erect new buildings, including a
replica of the old structure, all for a cost of $500,000. However, the
conservative opinion won the vote, and the wooden shell was moved. After
the congregation spent $250,000, the reconstructed Chapel was dedicated
on April 15, 1973.
Bill Tell was the president
who transformed the Chapel from “a religious filling station” to a
church. Memberships were solicited and year round services were started
in 1983. Some August Sundays saw only sixty-five people present, but the
Chapel persisted on its new course. Dr. John U. Miller was the bridge
from the old style to the new. A new charter and bylaws were written
and adopted in 1986.
The Sea Gull Cottage, built
in 1886, was once the home of Henry Flagler. The cottage had been moved
from the lake to the sea by The Breakers. Mr. Earl E. T. Smith had
vacationed in it as a young man. When The Breakers decided to demolish
it, Mr. Smith (acting through the Preservation Foundation) persuaded the
Chapel to give the cottage a resting spot in the Chapel parking lot. In
one hour at the Town Council meeting, he got permission to do what it
had taken the Chapel five years to accomplish. He said he would pay for
the transfer, and this he did, spending $600,000. Dr. Thomas Kirkman
and Ruth arrived in 1985. Dr. Kirkman provided superb preaching, strong
organization, and a system of committees that initiated the involvement
of the Chapel members. The growing membership and activities convinced
the directors that the Chapel needed a fellowship hall, new offices, and
Sunday School facilities. The construction of the new building, the
renovation of the historic Chapel, and the remanufacture of the Chapel
organ cost almost $2,000,000. Construction started in May of 1992, and
we began to enjoy this splendid new addition with its cost entirely
subscribed, in February 1993. Dr. Kirkman retired in
October of 1995.
On the first Sunday of
November 1995, Dr. Richard M. Cromie began his ministry, carefully
assuming his duties as pastor. His wife Peggy was a tremendous asset
to the Chapel. Dr. Cromie's inspiring sermons filled the Chapel to
peak capacity and he instigated and encouraged the writing of a book of
the History of the Chapel.
The Rev. Dr. Robert S.
Norris was unanimously embraced by the membership of the Chapel and
began his service as its Pastor in March of 2004. Along with his wife
Debbie, and their daughter Megan, Dr. Norris came to Palm Beach from
Upper St. Clair, a suburb of Pittsburgh, where he most recently served
the congregation of Westminster Presbyterian Church as Senior Pastor.
Prior to that Dr. Norris has led large vital congregations in Texas, New
Jersey and Pennsylvania.
A graduate of Bloomsburg
University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, Dr. Norris earned a Master of
Divinity degree, a Master of Theology degree, and a Doctor of Ministry
degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey.
Under Dr. Norris's enthusiastic pastoral leadership the Chapel continues
to grow joyfully on its firm and strong foundations: An
interdenominational congregation, a free pulpit, splendid preaching,
superb music, and no debt. The best days of the Royal Poinciana Chapel
by the grace of God are always ahead.
