Chapel by the Sea Presbyterian Church on Fort Myers Beach took a terrible hit from Hurricane Ian, its building utterly destroyed. The church hopes to rebuild but before it says goodbye to the old building the congregation has scheduled a healing and hope service on Sunday, Feb. 19.

“Since we were the first church on the island, we want to give the community and our members a chance to say goodbye to what Chapel was and give hope to what it will be in the future,” Chapel by the Sea Administrator Denise Armstrong said.

“We have invited the island churches and Peace River Presbytery leadership. We were able to recover a few items from the debris,” Armstrong said.

The original church bell which was hung in late April 1942 by the 13th fighter squadron of the 53rd fighter group from Page Field, Fort Myers was saved. The bell came by way of a Pennsylvania Bell Foundry. It was saved from being melted down for bullets, as this was during World War II.

“We also were able to save the center-stained glass window piece from the original Dolphin window that was destroyed in Hurricane Charlie,” Armstrong said.

Nearly everything else inside the church was lost – bibles, pianos, an organ, chairs, computers, furniture, files, the pulpit.

The congregation is currently worshiping with Cypress Lake Presbyterian Church in Fort Myers and have a temporary office there.

“We have about 30 to 40 members worshiping” there, Armstrong said. “Some members are starting to come back (for the winter).”

Before Hurricane Ian, the congregation numbered about 160, she said. The church is still working out financials with its insurance company and adjuster, along with the town, before it makes a final decision on its future.

“We don’t have any final plans yet but our plan is to rebuild at the island property. It may be a smaller footprint but we will have a presence on the beach. We want to continue our mission work with AA/ALANON and our other outreach programs,” Armstrong said.

“We are probably six to eight weeks out before we know what direction we are going to take. We will either rebuild, tear down or merge with another church. We want to keep a presence on the island. Our focus is on the Beach,” Armstrong said.

The service this Sunday, Feb. 19, will begin at 2:30 p.m.