Tiny Newburgh Chapel Offers a Place to Pray 24/7

The Tri-State is full of interesting and unique places, businesses, food offerings, and more, all of which are worth celebrating. Which is exactly what we're doing with what we're calling Tour de Tri-State. Once each week throughout the year, we'll shine the spotlight on one of those aforementioned offerings that make our community special. This week, I'm introducing you to the tiny prayer chapel in Newburgh that's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The size of the chapel certainly makes it unique, but that uniqueness doesn't stop there. Where it sits is also interesting. If I were to take the time to build a chapel like this, with the intention of people using it, I would want to put it somewhere where everyone could see it, like on the corner of a busy intersection, or somewhere it would be visible from a heavy traffic area like the Lloyd Expressway, Diamond Avenue, etc. But, you won't find it anywhere like that. This tiny house of prayer sits in a yard, on Outer Lincoln Avenue between State Street and Bell Road, on a trailer that serves double-duty as its foundation. It's maybe a 10 minute walk from my house, and I see it nearly twice a day on my way to and from work.

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The chapel opened in 2018 and is the brainchild of Mike Collins, who told Evansville Courier & Press columnist, Jessie Higgins back in July of that year, he came up with the idea after reading about a similar chapel in Virginia. He originally wanted it to be a permanent structure, but after doing the math, the cost was more than he expected so he built on the trailer and the results are impressive.

If you ever find yourself in need of some one-on-one time with the man upstairs for any reason and you're in the Newburgh area, stop by, even if it's at 2 o'clock in the morning.