Elvis Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, ordered loads of badges with ‘I Hate Elvis’ printed on them. These were to sell to all the people in a given town who were not purchasing the Elvis merchandise. He therefore profited from both fans and non-fans. Clever.
Ebenezer Primitive Methodist Chapel is in a sorry state. It was built in 1880 to replace an earlier structure from 1838. Of the first chapel, its leaders commented:
“Since the opening our congregations have been great beyond our most sanguine expectations”
A box-worth of song booklets has come to light. Salem Chapel, like many others, succumbed to the temptation to produce its own hymn booklets ‘for special services’. I flicked through and did not notice anything particularly notable. Judging by the printing fonts and cheap paper, it was made in the 1930s-1950s, or the sixties at a push.
According to the eighth-century Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq, Ubayd Allah ibn Jahsh ibn Ri'ab, cousin to Muhammad, abandoned Islam and converted to Christianity in Abyssinia (Ethiopia). His former comrades would say to him:
“We see clearly, but your eyes are only half open”.
He saw more in Jesus Christ than all others see who try to look past Him.
Capel Salem, Pwllheli, has the same name as Martin Top Chapel, but for its Welsh. It was originally built in 1862 for the Calvinistic Methodists, though it was expanded in 1893 and then rebuilt in 1915 after a thief in 1913 discovered nothing worth stealing so decided he would become an arsonist instead.
01282 540 562
pastor @ martintop. org .uk
Salem Chapel, Martin Top
near Rimington, Clitheroe, Lancashire BB7 4EG
Salem Congregational Chapel is a registered charity No. 252401 (England & Wales)
Sunday Worship 10.45am & 6.00pm