By the time you are reading this reflection, our 75th-Year Celebration of EAMC will be over. But I want to reflect on what has been happening on this end of the island in this chapel for the past 75 years.
It all started in Mrs. Steve Mallard (Elizabeth Keith)’s living room in the summer of 1949 with a small group of people meeting for Sunday School. The following year, construction began to build a chapel by Mr. J.G. Anderson, a land developer of the southern end of the island. He named the chapel Emma Anderson Memorial Chapel in memory of his mother. On July 22, 1951, the first service was held with 68 people present with names like Smith, Turner, Mallard, Bland, Grouse, Hooks, Wilson and of course Anderson, to name just a few. We have been worshipping in the same white concrete block building ever since. Many more names and family members have passed through its double doors and have been blessed by the teaching and preaching of God’s Word.
As our mission statement declares we are here “to glorify God and to proclaim to all that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.” I believe God has honored that commitment. We may have done it better at times, but we have been faithful to that commitment over the past 75 years. We give a lot of credit and rightly so, to Mr. Anderson and his vision for our little chapel by the sea. However, as the psalmist says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
We talk a lot about a church being the people not the building. But there is something to be said about a place of worship. It gives the people of the community a focal point, a place to gather for worship. As Miss Mildred wrote in our book, God’s Grace – “Mr. Anderson desired a place to worship on Sundays on this beautiful island.” And that he did create with God’s help.
Now the proof that God is amidst this place working behind the scenes is the impact our little chapel has had with people from all over. To paraphrase Miss Mildred, we have spread the message of Jesus, not just here in Topsail Beach, but throughout the world by our giving, our mission trips and our teaching of God’s Word.
Emma Anderson Memorial Chapel has become the embodiment of what the Apostle Peter wrote in his first letter (which we heard read and sung on Homecoming Sunday), “As we come to Jesus, the living stone -rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him- we also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a royal priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5).
Another special aspect of our chapel is that we have become a house of prayer. Every time we gather in the chapel whether it is for worship, Bible study, fellowship or even for conducting business- we pray. Jesus said, “My house will be called a house of prayer” (Matthew 21:13). For the past 75 years, we have tried to honor that. Our chapel has become a gathering place for prayer. So, will you join me in repeating Miss Mildred’s prayer for EAMC? Here is what she wrote,
“My prayer is that God’s love continues to grace our little white Chapel and beyond.” AMEN.