Walking over History

On the 11th of August this year, we marked an event which took place on 11 August 1816: the formal founding of Salem Chapel. The day before, one of our members had scrubbed and cleaned the datestone. Unusually, ours is not some inscribed slab attached to the wall, but was created by Stephen Dean out of pebbles from the nearby stream:

SC (Salem Chapel)

1817 (the year the chapel was erected, rather than the church founded)

It was good and proper that it was cleaned and made presentable, though many feet cross it each week belonging to people who are unaware it. As chapels and churches go, ours is far from being the oldest, yet we are a church with an interesting past; should we be found faithful by He who walks among the golden lampstands, we have a future, too.

For I know the thoughts, that I have thought towards you, saith the Lord, even the thoughts of peace, and not of trouble, to give you an end, and your hope. Jeremiah 29:11, Geneva Bible