John Elias Church (1782)
When still a boy, Elias wanted to go to hear the Methodist preacher who used to preach nearby, so he asked his grandfather to take him. They went to Pentref uchaf one day and had to wait ages for the preacher to arrive. His grandfather was distressed that so many people were loitering about wasting their time while they waited for the preacher, so he told Elias to go into the pulpit and read from the Bible, as to hear a boy read well in those days was a wonderful thing. He obeyed, and while he was reading the preacher arrived, and he came down from the pulpit as fast as he could. Elias became more practised at reading the Bible in public and on Sundays used to teach other children how to read. His grandfather was sick for quite a while before he died, so the young Elias would go to church on his own, hungry to hear the Word of God and yet not really understanding a lot of what was said. When a popular preacher was speaking in the area he might walk ten miles to hear him speak, then go with him to the next place and then the next place, before coming home.
Additional Information
Meetings began in 1770 at the crossroads opposite the chapel. The chapel was not built until 1800. You can see it is now for sale!