Events to mark 200th anniversary of historic town chapel
THE spotlight falls on Llanelli’s rich religious history this week as events are held to mark the 200th anniversary of Zion Chapel.
Special events will be held for children and young people at Ffwrnes Theatre today (Wednesday) and celebrations culminate in a special service at Greenfield Baptist Chapel on Saturday afternoon.
Llanelli’s status as a major centre for Baptists is evidenced by the large number of chapels dotted throughout the town.
Of all the Baptist chapels, Zion was established as the largest in Llanelli, once capable of seating 1,000 worshippers. Today, the chapel and the schoolrooms form part of the Ffwrnes Theatre arts complex.
Trevor Lewis, one of the chapel’s senior members, said: “Zion occupies a magnificent site in the middle of Llanelli and it stands as a symbol of the town’s rich Baptist history.”
Baptist services had been held in Adulam in Felinfoel since 1709.
As Llanelli’s population expanded with the arrival of the industrial age, members and friends of Adulam started meeting closer to the town centre at a site in Spring Gardens, near where the Town Hall stands today.
Between 1766 and 1822 a house was used as a place of worship, but as numbers grew an offshoot of the main congregation built the first chapel on the site of the current Zion Chapel and this was completed in 1822, 200 years ago.
Congregation numbers grew as Llanelli became a significant regional producer of tinplate and steel and, in 1857, the current Zion chapel was built to seat 1,000 worshippers on the same site as the old chapel.
Two legendary pillars of the faith in the Baptist movement pastored at Zion: John Rhys Morgan and Jubilee Young.
After the foundation of Zion, more Baptist churches sprang up in Llanelli – Bethel, Greenfield, Bethania, Moriah, Calfaria, Caersalem and Emmanuel – a testament to the enduring faith in the Baptist movement.
Zion Chapel has been visited by many famous guest preachers down the years.
On a warm July day in 1963, the chapel hosted the missionary Gladys Aylward, whose work in China was made famous by the 1959 film Inn of the Sixth Happiness.
The Llanelli Star reported on the visit of the indefatigable missionary.
Her message to the congregation was a tough one:
“We have failed to spread the news of Christ’s love yet we have time to blow a few people up and try to get on to the moon.”
She condemned the morals of the day and said directly to the congregation:
“Shame on you, your country is full of divorce courts, illegitimate children and unmarried mothers.”
She spoke at some length, in fact one and a half hours, to a packed and apparently enthusiastic congregation, although it is reported that some people left before the end due to the heat.
The current Zion Chapel building was designed by Henry Rogers and erected in 1857.
It has a three-bay façade with arched upper windows and a timber-pedimented porch. There are giant pilasters in greyish-brown local stone contrasting with ornamentations in brown sandstone.
Schoolrooms dating from 1913 and built by William Griffiths adjoin the chapel.
The chapel was designated as a Grade II-listed building on December 3, 1992, as “a fine example of classical tradition in chapel building and one of a series of similar Baptist chapels in Llanelli”.
The listing includes the railings that face on to the street.
Many of Llanelli’s notable buildings that surrounded Zion Chapel were demolished to make way for the Ffwrnes Theatre complex and the town’s Eastgate development.
One of the most memorable neighbouring buildings to fall victim to the bulldozers was the town’s historic Stepney Hotel.
Zion happily remains to this day as a reminder of a bygone age in Llanelli.
Youth services to celebrate the 200th anniversary take place today at Ffwrnes Theatre in the afternoon and the evening.
On Saturday, at 4pm at Greenfield Chapel, there will be a service of thanksgiving, led by the Rev Dr D Densil Morgan, president of the Baptist Union of Wales.
The service will be in Welsh, but there will be instantaneous translation facilities available.
Greenfield Chapel minister Rev David Jones said: “It will be a joy for us to welcome our friends from Zion and, especially, Rev Dr Densil Morgan.”