Nestled on a sprawling green lawn off the Ellenboro Henrietta Road is a glass chapel built for women to have Bible studies, places of worship, peace, communion and small weddings for the public.
Sean Floyd, formerly of Shelby, along with his dad Van Floyd and good friend, Mully McCraw, built the chapel for Sean's wife Jennifer (Jen) also from Shelby.
A candidate in the doctoral program and set to graduate on August 31 from International Miracle Institute in Pensacola, Florida, the chapel is Sean's graduation gift to Jen. In the chapel setting, Jennifer will continue Bible studies, work on ministerial projects and hopes to conduct weddings for the public.
When she began to study for her doctorate Sean got the idea to build a chapel where Jennifer could do her ministry work and they could offer the public a small wedding venue. "I told him if I ever won the lottery, I would like to build a church or buy a church," Jennifer said."He told me, we don't even play the lottery," so he decided to take the project on himself and began the work.
Sean and the others worked on the chapel two months and two days. Although disabled due to a massive heart attack and subsequent quadruple bypass surgery about two years ago, Sean still wanted to build the chapel and worked as many hours each day as possible. His father funded the building of the chapel They also received help from the Amish community to build the rafters and roof. "I believe that I will be a lifetime student of the Word of God," Jennifer said recently. A little girl growing up on a mill hill near Dover Mill in Shelby, Jennifer said she would go to the nearby church by herself. Her family didn't go so she would ride the church bus and go alone. Years later after being away from God or a while, Jennifer said in 2013 she heard the voice of God telling her to "get baptized." She had been baptized as a young girl, but she was obedient to the Lord's voice and was re baptized at South Mountain Christian Camp with a group of boys and girls. Then her new spiritual journey began.
Jennifer said she had been through testing trials and tribulation and believes God was testing her to see if she was going to be obedient. She became involved in church and she joined Christ the King Church in Shelby where she is active today. She's a leader in the women's programs, helps in Vacation Bible School and also attends Sunday School and worship. About 28 years ago the couple was looking for a house and discovered one on Ellenboro Henrietta Road. They knew it was the house for them. They learned the homeowner was a World War II veteran and a minister of the gospel. God uses people to bless us and accomplish His purposes in a variety of ways. I know without a doubt that my Heavenly Father used my husband and my father-in-law to build the Agape Chapel," she said. Jennifer said God gave her the name of Agape for the chapel's identification. Sean said the chapel is "way more" than he had first planned to build. He first thought about a wooden chapel but as he was looking for materials one day, he came across 22 glass doors and figured he could use them
or the walls of the chapel, making it more of a glass structure. He also said he had not heard of the Glass Chapel off Maple Creek Road in Rutherfordton until he had finished the Agape Chapel, which is much, much smaller, he said. The chapel has strands of white lights on the inside that are reflected by the sun and offer tranquility in the evenings. "I hope this will be a place for small Christian weddings, small Bible studies and doing what the Lord has laid on my life to do. The Lord has continued to open doors for me," said Jennifer. When she is not studying or in school, Jennifer works a full-time job at Steffes, a manufacturing plant in Shelby, where she is a buyer for the materials needed for the plant. She and Sean have a daughter Elisabeth, sonin- law Jordan and granddaughter, Hannah 12, with whom they also spend time.
Jennifer said Sean and her family were baptized in the Broad River some time ago. To find out more about the chapel visit The Agape Chapel on Facebook.