Wayfarers Chapel: Palos Verdes Landmark

Looking out over the Pacific Ocean, amid a lush garden and surrounded by trees, Wayfarers Chapel resides in Rancho Palos Verdes. Made almost entirely of glass, the chapel allows visitors to look through its walls and take in all the nature surrounding it, including the ocean view.  Whether religious or not, the beauty of Wayfarers Chapel is for everyone to experience.

Completed in 1951, Wayfarers Chapel is the work of Lloyd Wright, son of pioneering architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s attributes were inspired by the theology of the Swedenborgian Church (which it is sponsored by) that focuses on connecting God’s natural world and the inner world of mind and spirit.

Wright saw the trees of the redwood forest and wanted to create a “tree chapel.”  While it is known as the “glass church,” the trees surrounding the chapel are a very prominent feature and are seen through the glass, forming living walls and a roof.

It is called “wayfarers” as an attribute to the travelers who could come and rest here.  Originally, when there weren’t freeways and easy road access, the travel to this church could take an entire day.  It is still applicable today even though it is more easily accessed, since we are all traveler’s to get to the church.  As Reverend Harvey Tafel says, we are also all traveler’s on the journey of life.

The chapel performs weddings, baptisms, and other services along with worship services.  In addition, they have a garden and visitor’s center for anyone that would like to stop by and see the chapel, taking in all the beauty that resides in and around it.