Southern View Chapel

Specialties

A well-​loved hymn opens with these lines, «I love to tell the story, of unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.» These words would describe well the passion and ministry of Southern View Chapel. We love to tell the story of the glories and wonders of Jesus Christ. We love to tell of His great sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary to save us from our sin. We love to proclaim God’s Word in all of its fullness. We love to magnify God through every possible means.

As a result of our zeal to proclaim these truths, our church – every aspect, program and activity – centers on the Word of God, which is the only source of life and godliness through the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:3). The times of fellowship, evangelism, and worship are extremely important to us, but even these things must be firmly grounded upon the scriptures or they become activities without purpose. The Lord has created His church to be the «pillar and support of the truth» (I Timothy 3:15). It is our desire and delight to be a local congregation fulfilling the purpose for which we were designed.

History

Established in 1938.

Southern View Chapel has faithfully proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Springfield, Illinois, community since its inception in the spring of 1938. During the first 11 years, there was no stable pastoral ministry, but that changed in the Fall of 1949 when a young pastor from Peoria by the name of Edward Hellyer arrived. Pastor Hellyer served the church as Senior Pastor until his semi-​retirement in 1980, when he became the Visitation Pastor. Even after full retirement and a 90^th birthday party, Pastor Hellyer continued leading our monthly communion service until 2006.

In 1980, Gary E. Gilley became the Senior Pastor, after serving the church as Assistant Pastor since 1975. Over the course of his pastoral ministry the church experienced steady numerical growth. As a result, it became increasingly apparent that new facilities were necessary.

After more than a decade of prayer and faithful giving, SVC moved to its current church building in 2003.

Meet the Manager

Gary G.

Manager

Dr. Gary E. Gilley has been pastoring at Southern View Chapel since 1975. He is author of six books, and has also contributed to four other books, including Out of Formation.

Pastor Gilley received his BA from Moody Bible Institute and his MBS and ThD from Cambridge Graduate School. He is a frequent speaker at Bible conferences and writes the monthly study paper, Think on These Things and is the Book Review Editor for the Journal of Dispensational Theology. He is also a board member of Brazil Gospel Fellowship Mission, Personal Freedom Outreach and New Tribes Missions.

Pastor Gilley and his wife Marsha have two adult sons and six grandchildren.