Riverside-Salem Environmental Chapel

The Riverside-Salem Environmental Chapel is located on undeveloped land, near the Niagara River. If you walk across the street, you can look across the river to Canada.


Every week, the chapel offers programs on a wide variety of topics. People are welcome to attend and to bring food for a potluck dinner. People bring whatever they are inspired to bring and, sometimes, all of the food is dessert! From September to June, the programs are held on Sunday evenings, and in July and August, the programs are held on Wednesdays.

The Riverside-Salem Environmental Chapel is located on mainly undeveloped land.

There are square foot gardens with some vegetables that are growing with great gusto. They are planted in piles of wood chips and compost. The gardens are surrounded by wild flowers.

This seems to be what the environmental chapel is all about.

One of the ongoing projects of the environmental chapel is the construction of this straw bale building. This has been a long-term project, and it has involved the use of many wine bottles, donated by people who apparently were quite thirsty.

This tipi is also on the grounds of Riverside-Salem Environmental Chapel. One night, about two years ago, I had the chance to sleep in it. It was really a quite relaxing little “house” in which to live.

I’m not sure who this is…

This is one of the newer additions to the environmental chapel. It is a small space where people can make pottery. There are two potter’s wheels inside and a table where people can form pottery with their hands, should they choose not to use the potter’s wheel.

This is the doorway to the tipi.

This is the Environmental Chapel. The chapel was built in the 1930s. It was used for various purposes: as a retreat center, a day camp, and an environmental chapel. The original Riverside-Salem UCC/DC church was in Buffalo. By 1980, the original church building was sold, and the church was relocated to the Environmental Chapel in Grand Island. The current co-pastors of the chapel are Jon and Cathy Rieley-Goddard.

The program this evening was about the prison system, which, in the United States seems to be a growth industry. Attendance was small but discussion was lively. The main presenter was Chuck Culhane (left), with the assistance of Billy (right). June Licence (center) is the organizer, who schedules the weekly programs.