The Chapel of the Snows is a non-denominational Christian church located at the United States' McMurdo Station on Ross Island, Antarctica and is one of eight churches on Antarctica.

Overview

The chapel is the second

southernmost The most southerly geographical features of various types are listed here. Cities and settlements Geography Islands Berkner Island is further south than any of these, but its bedrock lies entirely below sea level, with only its ice cov ...

religious building in the world and has regular

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

services. During the Austral Summer, the chapel is staffed by rotational chaplains. The Diocese of Christchurch supplies Catholic priests and the

U.S. Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

supplies Protestant chaplains. The chapel is also host to services and meetings for other faith groups such as

Latter Day Saints The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...

, Baháʼí, and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

and non-religious groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous. These meetings are dependent on lay leadership to be the points of contact and facilitators. The building itself may hold up to 63 worshippers. The original Chapel of the Snows burned down in 1978 and was replaced with a new temporary chapel. After the current chapel was built, the makeshift building (which has since burned down as well) was converted to other uses. The current chapel, dedicated in 1989, features custom stained glass which depicts the Antarctica Continent, the Erebus Chalice (during

Austral summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, ...

s only), and memorabilia from the US Navy's historic involvement in

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...

. The altar of the Chapel of the Snows is believed to come from St Saviour's Chapel in

Lyttelton, New Zealand Lyttelton (Māori: ''Ōhinehou'') is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō, at the northwestern end of Banks Peninsula and close to Christchurch, on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. As a landing ...

, where

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

worshiped prior to embarking on the ill-fated

Terra Nova Expedition The ''Terra Nova'' Expedition, officially the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. Led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the expedition had various scientific and geographical objec ...

. The chapel is one of the buildings which will be replaced as part of the Antarctic Infrastructure Modernization for Science project, to upgrade and improve facilities at McMurdo.

In popular culture

* '' Antarctica: A Year on Ice''

References

External links

* {{coord, 77, 51, S, 166, 40, E, display=title Chapels in Antarctica McMurdo Station Buildings and structures demolished in 1978 1956 establishments in Antarctica

Overview

In popular culture

See also

References

External links