About

Hunt Chapel provides a place for reflection and respite. It is a place where people can go and think their best thoughts.

The chapel was designed by Maurice Jennings + Walter Jennings Architects, PLLC of Fayetteville Arkansas. The firm has a history of chapel and residential design. Maurice, a partner of the late E. Fay Jones, worked with Jones for 25 years.

The stone in the arches and walls comes from local quarries in Northwest Arkansas as well as Eastern Oklahoma. The chapel is 3,000 square feet and the height at the ridge is 43 feet above the ground. The chapel can accommodate up to 135 people. The stone of the chapel speaks to the chapel’s permanence and strength. The wood, protected by the slate roof, shows depth and life through its grain.

One first enters the Narthex of the chapel and continues into the Nave. The Narthex provides compression while the Nave opens up and allows for focused views to the south and open views to the periphery. During the day the chapel is illuminated by natural light, requiring very little artificial light.

The geometry of the chapel plays on the meditation of a circle. The circle is a special geometry that can symbolize many things, as in a ring for marriage or the circle of life. Various meditations and iterations of the circle can be seen throughout the chapel. Reoccurring themes of the numbers 3 and 12 are also used, in reference to the holy trinity and the apostles.

About Maurice Jennings

Maurice Jennings AIA (1947-2016) born in Heber Springs, Arkansas, worked as a self-employed builder while pursuing his Bachelor of Architecture degree at the University of Arkansas which he received in 1973. Maurice was employed by Euine Fay Jones, Architect in 1973 and worked with Fay Jones for 25 years. He became the first Associate in Fay Jones and Associates Architects in 1976 and became Fay Jones’ only partner in Fay Jones + Maurice Jennings Architects in 1986. The partnership of Maurice Jennings + David McKee Architects was established in 1998 upon Fay’s retirement.

In 2006 the firm became Maurice Jennings Architects. Maurice’s son developed the same passion for the field, and joined him as a partner in 2011 as Maurice Jennings + Walter Jennings Architects. Maurice worked on many influential projects including Thorncrown Chapel (Eureka Springs), Mildred B Cooper Chapel (Bella Vista), Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel (Kingsville, MO), Crosby Arboretum (Picayune, MS), Anthony Chapel (Hot Springs), Rio Roca Chapel (Palo Pinto, TX) and Hunt Chapel (Rogers). Maurice Jennings + Walter Jennings Architects, PLLC uphold the principles of Organic Architecture. These principles include a harmony between the building and its natural surroundings, a close relationship of the individual elements of a building to each other, a generous use of natural light, and the honest expression of materials.

These principles include a harmony between the building and its natural surroundings, a close relationship of the individual elements of a building to each other, a generous use of natural light, and the honest expression of materials.