Who We Are

“Washington Memorial Chapel is valley forge. There, no American is an alien. There all differences are forgotten, and jew and gentile, Roman Catholic and Protestant can worship side by side in the great American brotherhood.”

- The Rev’d W. Herbert Burk

Washington Memorial Chapel is a growing parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania located in the heart of Valley Forge National Historic Park about 20 miles from Center City Philadelphia. Our mission is first and foremost to glorify God in and through Jesus Christ by faithfully engaging in the Great Commission from Matthew 28.

We also exist as a symbol of our Nation. You Cannot walk around very long at the Chapel before you realize you are surrounded by symbols and art that tell the story of the birth of our great nation. We are not a cathedral but are like a cathedral. We are a spiritual hub and place of refuge for people across the country and literally all over the world. Fr. Herbert Burk, our founding Rector, said it best when he called us "The Nation's Bethel." He said the Chapel is meant to be the place “where the American patriot might kneel in quest of that courage and that strength to make all honorable his citizenship here below, and prove his claim to that above!”