Lode Chapel - Commemorating the Past
The first of a three part story... Past, Present and Future!
2010 is a special year for Lode Chapel -it marks 200years since the purchase of
the land upon which thechapel is built. Our story starts before that, in the
seventeenth century, when a groupof 'non-conformists'(radical believers
who refused to conform to the ways of the Church of England, insisting that
people should be old enough to make up their own minds before being baptised)
began meeting illegally in the woodland near Lode. By1810 the law was changing,
however, and this group of so-called 'Baptists' were allowed to build a
small chapel in which to worship. The congregation grew, and in 1832 the chapel
was rebuilt with further rooms being added later. By the midnineteenth
century,
when Lode's parish church was built, the chapel had three services each
Sunday, and in the afternoon up to 300 people (more than half of village's
population at the time) were in attendance.
In the twentieth century, however, like many other churches, Lode Chapel experienced a dramatic decline in the size of the congregation, and by the 1980s there were literally only a handful of worshippers meeting week by week. Nonetheless, the faithful few (one of whom is still an active member today) continued to pray for God's blessing. Their prayers were answered when a number of families felt prompted to transfer their membership from Eden Chapel in Cambridge and start worshipping in Lode. This breathed new life into the Chapel fellowship and, in the early 1990s, the sanctuary was transformed into an attractive meeting space which has become well used by the community. With most of the other local nonconformist chapels closing over the years, the Christian witness of the Lode Chapel fellowship has moved beyond the boundaries of this one village. Worshippers now come from Bottisham, Stow-cum-Quy, Swaffham Bulbeck,Swaffham Prior and from further afield too.
As a member of this wider local community we want to give you an opportunity to be part of our bicentenary commemorations. We'd particularly like to invite you to a special celebration service we're holding at the Chapel on Sunday 14th February at 5.30pm if:
- You or a member of your family once attended Chapel services,
- You've ever been in the Chapel for one reason or another (to vote, for mums andtoddlers, for the photo club, for WI, for a parish meeting, to watch the world cup on the big screen... ).
- You've never set foot in the Chapel but want to come and take a look!
You'll be welcome if you just turn up, but as we're planning to make some tea and cake available after the service, it would be helpful if you could let me know if you intend to come (contact details below). Next month's article will focus on the present life of Lode Chapel -who we are and what we do -and in March I'll fill youin on the exciting plans for the future which will also be presented as part of the celebrations on the 14th February. I look forward to seeing you then.