Bethel Chapel, Lothersdale

Bethel is the name of the old chapel found in the village of Lothersdale, betwixt Keighley and Earby. Although now a ‘redundant’ chapel, it has a better website than many which still meet: http://bethelchapellothersdale.co.uk/.

The name 'Bethel' means House of God, and was the place wherein Jacob had his dream of the staircase to heaven in Genesis 28. It had previously been called Luz, but Jacob renamed it on the strength of the wonderful promise God had given him there. Our Lothersdale Bethel is no longer a house of God. It is now a tastefully converted ‘home and office’. Perhaps it would be better called Luz, now it is returned to its unconsecrated state, a place where the ladder to heaven is no longer preached and shared.

If our Salem chapel ever closes, it had better be re-named Jebus, the name of Jerusalem before David’s conquest. Psalm 76:2 says “In Salem also is His tabernacle, And His dwelling place in Zion.” When the God of Salem departs and His oracles from there are no longer proclaimed, we can no longer be Salem. A whole of host of redundant nonconformist chapels, now Bed & Breakfasts, carpet showrooms, second homes and community centres, need re-naming. Gone are the Zions, Bethsaidas, Ebenezers and Hermons.

Sadly, some which are still functioning need re-naming, too.