Though a church is not a building (at least not of the bricks and mortar variety) you may be interested to know a little about the place where Rehoboth Church (Angel) will be meeting. It has a varied and interesting history to say the least.
The "handsome little chapel in Chadwell Street," as Mary Cosh described it, was built for Calvinistic Methodists on a site leased from the New River Company. The chapel, completed in 1824, was known as Providence Chapel. The Methodists, though, were not to remain long. They moved to new premises on Rawstorne Street in 1827. That's when the Scottish Presbyterians moved in. Later on they moved as well and several churches made use of the building until the Strict Baptists took it over in 1855. They renamed the building Mount Zion Chapel and built (as one would expect) a baptistery under the floor. In the 1920s a house at the rear of the chapel was demolished to make way for a school.
At some stage the church became known as Angel Baptist Church and sadly closed a few years back. Since then the Association of Grace Baptist Churches (South East) relocated their offices to the former school building and the chapel was leased to a non-denominational church. Now this church (like the others before it) is moving at the end of August.
Rehoboth Church (Angel) will begin meeting in the chapel on 2 September 2007. We trust you are making plans to join us at the "handsome little chapel on Chadwell Street" as a new page is turned in the ongoing history of this unique building.
