What is the difference between Church and Chapel?

Christianity has various sectors and places of worship. Two of those are chapels and churches. The main difference between the two is how they are run. Churches are filled with what is called a congregation. The congregation is led by either a pastor or a priest.

Most churches are open on Sundays for Sunday service. The congregation will come together, sing songs, and have a sermon delivered from their pastor or priest. Chapels are more so focused on physical space. There is no leader or specific congregation, for a person can visit a chapel at any time to pray or host an event. A chapel could be at a school or an airport.

A church is a building, usually large, where Christians come to worship, whereas a chapel is smaller and usually attached to the church by a breezeway or sits on the same grounds as the church. The chapel is more modest and traditionally used for small, quaint services like baptism and small weddings. There are chapels in other places where the size of the church would be too large, which would include schools, military installations, hospitals, and airports.

The word church is cited in the bible a few times; however, because the chapel was formed at a later time, it is not mentioned there. The formation of the chapel was for convenience's sake, where the church was occupied at a time when someone needed a place to pray.

Some people may think that a church and a chapel are the same but actually, there are some differences that you should know. When you say church, this is the place where a lot of people gather especially when there are some special events.

A holy mass will require people to go to the church. The church will usually have a permanent pastor or priest who will be in charge of presiding over a mass. A chapel will not have a permanent pastor or priest.

There are some people who just need to go to the chapel when they want to have a place where they can pray or worship the Lord. The size of the chapel is smaller than a church.