Thorncrown Chapel

Thorncrown Chapel is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwestern Arkansas near Eureka Springs. It was awarded the American Institute of Architecture's "Design of the Year" award for 1981 and later their "Design of the Decade" award for the 1980s. It recently was awarded fourth on their list of the top buildings of the 20th Century.



Over 6 million visitors have admired the structure, commissioned by retired teacher Jim Reed and designed by acclaimed architect and Arkansan E. Fay Jones who was educated at nearby University of Arkansas where he then spent his four decade career as professor and dean at the university's school of architecture which now bears his name. Jones was also a student and friend of Frank Lloyd Wright.



The structure towers 48 feet into the Ozark sky yet seems to be part of the woodland forest, and its 425 windows and 6000+ square feet of glass provide the feeling that you are worshiping in Nature. (For the curious: the windows are washed once a year at a cost of $4000.) We were treated to a history of the chapel as well as a piano solo and vocal solo by the minister of music, Patricia Taylor -- a performance you should not miss! She is an extremely accomplished pianist and has an angelic voice which is carried beautifully by the acoustics of the the chapel.



Thorncrown has no congregation per se, but does have a pastor and minister of music. Sunday services are held at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM from April through October, and visitors to the resort town of Eureka Springs attend the services.

To accommodate the needs of visitors, the adjacent Thorncrown Worship Center opened in 1989. Designed by the same architect, the worship center stands as a sister building to Thorncrown Chapel. As you walk in its doors, you gaze over the rolling Ozark hills through a fifty foot window. This magnificent structure seats over 300 people and is available for retreats and weddings.