Y Capel Saesneg, Bala

A peculiar-looking chapel, now redundant (which is typical for Wales, sadly) is the Y Capel Saesneg (‘The English Chapel’) which sits on Bala’s high street. Once a Methodist place of worship, it is now a rather pleasant if cluttered antique centre, the proprietor a cheery fellow who sells icecreams on the side. The chapel seems to have closed in 2017 and changed to its new employment the following year. It is full of old clocks, crockery, records and the like.

I cannot say why it closed; Methodist chapels have been shutting at a rather speedy rate which I attribute to a thorough imbibing of liberal theology during the twentieth century. Even the fires of the Welsh revival were eventually dampened by the drab shroud of ‘modernism’ and unbelief. Churches which become antique centres were engaging in that trade long before they closed; vintage doubts, ancient lies, retro denials. The serpent’s subtle whispering in Eden continued to echo from pulpits and lecterns these past millennia. God’s truth, in contrast, is timeless and fresh, eternal and energising.

Canys da yw yr Arglwydd: ei drugaredd sydd yn dragywydd; a’i wirionedd hyd genhedlaeth a chenhedlaeth. Salm 100:5: