Chapel

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The pastor who organized the first memorial service at the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001, will be the speaker for the annual service of remembrance for the victims of the terrorist attacks Sunday at Letterkenny Chapel. The Rev. Jay E. Shaffer of Unity United Church of Christ in Shanksville, Pa., will be the speaker at the 4 p.m. service at the depot chapel. Shaffer, who ministered to emergency and rescue personnel at the crash site, will be joined by Chambersburg area clergy and lay persons in leading the service.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The annual Community Veterans Day Service will be at 4 p.m. Monday in the Letterkenny Chapel at the Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg. The service is jointly sponsored by the United Churches of the Chambersburg Area and the Joint Veterans Council of Chambersburg. The guest speaker will be retired Army Chaplain Charles F. Kriete, of Carlisle, Pa. He is a former commandant of the Army Chaplain School and has also served on the faculty of the Army War College for seven years.

tarar@herald-mail.com CASCADE - A Baptist preacher asked the PenMar Development Corp.'s board of directors on Monday to lease the vacant chapel at the former Fort Ritchie U.S. Army base so it can be used as an independent Baptist church. The board put off a decision on whether to lease the property until it gathers more information about the church and discusses the matter with the Columbia, Md., developer that has agreed to buy the former base, PenMar Executive Director Rich Rook said.

A Civil War feature film, "No Retreat From Destiny: The Battle That Rescued Washington," will hold its premiere March 10 at Faith Chapel, 6 S. Potomac St., in Hagerstown. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with the film starting at 7:30. A reception and question-and-answer period will follow. Tickets cost $5 at the door. To reserve seats, call 301-241-4000. The film was shot almost entirely in Washington County. Many local actors and re-enactors are in the film, which was co-produced by Washington County-based Historical Entertainment LLC. Set in 1864, the story follows the Confederate attempt to capture Washington, D.C., in hopes of ending the war in the South's favor.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Amid tight security, officials on Tuesday unveiled Letterkenny Army Depot's contribution to the Force Provider system - a combined church, synagogue and mosque called the Containerized Chapel. "In Bosnia, we were living in some nasty warehouses until Force Provider arrived," Depot Commander Col. William Guinn said of the 500-man tent cities of which the Containerized Chapels are now a part. Guinn, who was a battalion commander in that Balkan country, said the chaplain had to make do with the mess hall between 9 and 11 a.m. He conducted services and other pastoral duties between breakfast and lunch at tables still cluttered with salt and pepper shakers and Tabasco sauce bottles.

The West End Baptist Chapel, 101 Buena Vista Ave. in Hagerstown, has scheduled an Easter cantata on Easter Sunday, April 8 at 11 a. m. The name of the cantata is “The Offer Still Stands.” It will be a musical featuring the life of Jesus. All are welcome. Admission is free. March star athletes of the month named Winter Street Elementary School recently announced the March star athletes of the month for pre-kindergarten through grade five. This month's winners are Tianna Russ, Chris Moon, B.J. Jameson, Chloe Whittington, Mason Patterson, Elijah Blakney and Domanick Trimmer.

The sun slowly set over the Franklin County 9/11 and Veterans' Memorial Park as prayers were offered up Sunday. A newly raised U.S. Navy flag rustled in a light breeze as about 100 people witnessed a rifle salute from Charles F. Nitterhouse VFW Post 1599. The ceremony at the memorial, which is being developed adjacent to Letterkenny Chapel, capped off the annual Veterans Day service sponsored by the United Churches of the Chambersburg Area and the Joint Veterans' Council of Chambersburg.

Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren, Pastor Rachel Black will lead the 10 a.m. service Sunday. Mary Diehl will be worship leader. Sunday school at 9 a.m. Benevola United Methodist Church, Boonsboro, The Youth Group will lead the service at the 9 a.m. service Sunday for Father's Day. Sunday school at 10:15 a.m. Bethel United Methodist Church, Chewsville, Pastor Linda Warehime's will be sharing her Father's Day message with “Being Godly in...

The United Churches of the Chambersburg Area will sponsor a Christmas Eve service at 6 p.m. Friday at the historic Letterkenny Chapel. The service will be patterned after the traditional Christmas Eve services held from 1960 to 1995, when the chapel served its congregation as a military chapel. This year's speaker will be the Rev. Alan C. Witter. The Rev. Ray L. Kauffman and the Rev. Paul Yeun will assist as liturgists. Witter, a Free Methodist minister, has served at Spirit of Christ Community Church in Chambersburg, as a missionary in Haiti and Nigeria, and at Free Methodist congregations in Maine and New York.

andrear@herald-mail.com A deteriorating black history landmark likely will stand in Sharpsburg for generations to come due to the efforts of a local preservation group and a retired preacher with deep ties to an old church. The Rev. Ralph Monroe remembers when Tolson's Chapel was the heart of Sharpsburg's once-strong black community. The 137-year-old church on East High Street served as the town's first school for black children and the center for black worship and fellowship.