History of The Chapel

The vision for The Chapel in North Canton began in 1980 when people from the North Canton area who were attending The Chapel in Akron began dreaming of and praying for a church in their own area. In November 1984, approximately forty people started a Bible study in homes in the North Canton area under the leadership of three pastors from The Chapel in Akron.

This Bible study continued for the next six months until Easter Sunday evening, April 7, 1985, when The Chapel met for its first worship service at the Student Center on the campus of Malone College in Canton. Pastor David Malick led the church in evening services at Malone College until September 22, 1985, when the church moved to the North Canton YMCA for both morning and evening services.

In December 1987, The Chapel acquired nearly ten acres of land in North Canton as the site for a church building and successfully paid the entire purchase price within one year. Continuing efforts toward a permanent church home, a building committee was formed and drew the plans for our first church building, which allowed room for future expansion. Construction of this building began in October 1991, and was completed in June 1992.

In June 28, 1992, an overflow congregation packed into the new sanctuary and rejoiced as The Chapel left its temporary site at the YMCA and moved into the new permanent church building on Whittier Avenue.. Within six months, attendance soared to over 400 people. On March 28, 1993, The Chapel expanded to two morning Worship Services and two Sunday Schools to accommodate the growing flock. It wasn't long before plans were being made for future building expansion and additional parking.

Ground was broken April 18, 1999 for a new sanctuary and expanded educational facilities. The 14 month building program, which roughly tripled our original floor space, culminated with a June 11, 2000 dedication service. It was also with great joy that we were able to bring our youth back on site with the dedication of the youth building in September, 2000. We have since been blessed with renovations to the original main building, completing its transition to housing the Children's Ministry department.