The story of Camano Chapel began in the late 1940's when a group of people felt the need for a community church to be built. Two acres of land were purchased and building began in 1949 at the present site. Leader Clarence Dirks had played football for the Washington Huskies and was a writer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper. The articles he wrote about an island community building a church inspired people to send donations.

In 1951 the building now known as Heritage Hall (Wayland Sanctuary) was completed and the leaders asked Billy Graham, who was in Seattle at the time for a crusade, to come and dedicate the new church. Thousands gathered for the dedication and many came to know Christ. An offering was given to Billy Graham but he gave it back to the church; it was just enough to pay the final bills.

In 1967 the church was on the verge of closing its doors when the leaders heard about a group called Village Missions. Village Missions would help pay the salary for a pastor so he could work full time reaching out to the community. In August 1967 Village Missions sent Pastor John Duckworth and family to Camano Chapel. Because of poor health he was forced to leave the ministry in May 1968.

Village Missions then sent Pastor Bill and Gayle Wayland in June 1968. The church began to grow and God brought great blessings. In 1973 Jackson Hall was built for Sunday school classes. There were some who couldn’t understand why we were building such a big building, thinking we would never fill it. In 1980 the gymnasium (The Worship Center) was built so we could reach the youth of our community. In 1985 we started building the Christian Education building (Madrona Hall). In 1992 the platform and rooms on the north and east sides of the gym were added to facilitate worship services, which had moved there in 1983.

Pastor Bill and Gayle Wayland retired in 1996 to begin a ministry of encouragement to Village Missions pastors. Pastor Kris and Joyce Kramer arrived in early 1997 and Camano Chapel continued to grow. In 2003 Island County approved a site plan for future expansion, the most immediate need being increased classroom space for both Sunday and midweek ministry use.

Without incurring debt, construction began in 2008. Saratoga Hall was completed and officially opened in March 2018. This gave much needed space on the lower floor for our PreK, Kindergarten and Children’s Ministry. The upper floor gave additional space for our growing adult Sunday school classes and other weekly events. With the completion of Saratoga Hall, Madrona Hall was remodeled and the church administrative offices were relocated there in the summer of 2020 from Heritage Hall. Presently, Heritage Hall now houses His Pantry and His Closet ministries and the new church library is located in the East Hall next to the worship center.

The story of Camano Chapel will never end until our Lord Jesus Christ returns. Until then, we desire to continue to reach our community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!