Bethel Chapel
"To Turn the lost into the found and the faithless into the faithful"
Sunday Morning Service ~ 10.30am
Sunday Evening Service ~ 6.00pm
Bethel News
We now have a new way that you can now donate to Bethel - by using the button below, via Give as you Live.
So, if you would like to make a donation to help us keep our outreach groups affordable to all who wish to come along, or if you are not able to make it to church and would like to send your offering in anyway, just click on the button below
Nice to meet you.
We extend a special welcome to those of you who are single, married, separated, divorced, widowed, gay, straight, trans, non-binary, filthy rich, comfortably off, penniless, clear-headed or confused. We welcome those who struggle physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually and those who are ‘just fine’.
We extend a particular welcome to the crying babies, rowdy toddlers, noisy children, teenagers, adults or those in the twilight years. You are welcome if you have dozens of children or none, if you wish you had some and don’t, or if you sometimes wish you didn’t have children and do. You are welcome if you can chat to everyone you meet, or if you would prefer not to talk to anyone at all.
You are welcome if you are rake thin or if you really could do with losing a few pounds or stones. You are welcome if you are from Wollescote, Lye, Stourbridge, Dudley area or much further afield (even Birmingham!). We don’t mind where you live or come from – you are welcome.
You are welcome here if you can sing like Pavarotti or Beyoncé, or if you can’t hold a note in a bucket. You are welcome if you are ‘just browsing,’ just woken up or just out of prison. You are welcome if you come here every week, or every month or once a year or if you’ve never been here before and if you don’t come again. You are welcome if you are in a Church somewhere every Sunday or if you only ever darken a Church’s doorstep for ‘hatch, match and despatch’. We don’t mind why you are here – you are welcome.
We extend a warm welcome to those of you who are definitely over 60 but you just haven’t grown up yet and are not planning to any time soon, or if you’re a teenager growing up too fast. We welcome gym-mad Moms, football-crazy Dads and those who wouldn’t set foot inside a gym or at a football match unless on pain of death.
We welcome tree huggers, hard as nails types, latte-sippers, vegans and junk food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or who are still addicted to something or other. We welcome you if you are sky high happy or in the pits low, or mostly somewhere in between. If you’ve lost all your money on the horses, you are still welcome here.
You are welcome if you believe in fairies and dragons or if you only believe what you can see. You are welcome if you can’t read or have a few degrees and plenty of letters after your name, you are welcome if you belong to MENSA or if you can’t spell. You are welcome if you work too hard, don’t work, can’t work, can’t hear, can’t see, can’t walk or if you have only come because your Nan is visiting and wants to go to church.
We welcome those who are inked or pierced or both or neither. We offer a special welcome to those who could really do with a prayer right now or if you’re sick of organised religion because it’s been rammed down your throat. We welcome you if you are “spiritual” but not “religious” and if you’re curious whether it’s possible to be both at once. You are welcome if you’ve planned to be here or got off the No 9 bus at the wrong stop and wound up here by mistake.
We welcome tourists, seekers, doubters and believers.
Oh, and we welcome you too - whoever you are, however you are, just as you are.
Weekly at Bethel
Statement of Faith
We believe in the Divine inspiration of the Bible, the Word of God, and it’s authority in matters of faith and conduct.
We believe in the Trinity – the unity and individuality of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in God.
We believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ, His incarnation and virgin birth, His real and sinless humanity, His atoning sacrifice for our sins, His resurrection and ascension and in His return.
We believe in the inherent broken relationship between man and God brought about through the disobedience of man, the only way to restore the broken relationship being through Jesus.
We believe in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in the necessity of the fruits of the Spirit as a witness to a life lived for God, and in the gifts of the Spirit as beneficial to the work and growth of the Church.
We believe in the final judgement by God following death according to our faith in Christ here on earth, and eternal life with God in heaven, and in Hell – eternal life without God.
We believe in the local Church as a fellowship and family belonging to God and each other, designed to worship God, teach His Word, preach the Gospel of Salvation, for the encouragement and building up of the members.
The vision of this Church is that we should be a serving community dedicated to taking the Gospel of Christ to the surrounding area, to be faithful servants of God and wise stewards of His world and provisions.
Bethel Chapel
At present, the church that meets at Bethel numbers a total of around 300. That number includes those who come Sunday by Sunday, to those we see only a couple of times a year, and all else between! The number includes our Pathfinders and Icebreakers, and our Cornerstone bids who may only come on Wednesdays. The number also includes the growing number of old people we have living in residential care. Being part of the Church that meets at Bethel can never be confined to those who simply attend this building, but is wide enough to embrace those who know that the whole of their life is a walk with God, and who look to Bethel as their spiritual home.
Bethel is “in the community, for the community” and bases its life upon the free gift of forgiveness and salvation offered by God the Father through Jesus His Son, being in our lives through the Holy Spirit.
Bethel is a community focal point and touches people from the “cradle to the grave”, with Toddlers, Little Lambs Pre-School Centre, One Way children’s club, Friday night youth club, Use it or Lose it, Knit & Natter, Craft & Chat and Cornerstone senior citizen’s luncheon club. The love of God is pumped out from this church not only through the community activities, but through the work of the individuals who make up the church.
The word Bethel is taken from two Hebrew words - bêt ’el - meaning the House of God. The word Church is taken from the Greek word – kuriakon - which means belonging to the Lord. The word Chapel is taken from a Latin word – cappella - meaning cloak, and provided a secret place where dissenters could worship God. Chapels were break-away places, breaking the mould, objecting to the status quo, wanting to make God readily available to any and all who would find Him. Our founders became dissenters and walked out of a Church they felt misrepresented their God and they formed a chapel for worship. Being part of the Church that meets at Bethel can never be confined to those who simply attend this building, but is wide enough to embrace those who know that the whole of their life is a walk with God, and who look to Bethel as their spiritual home. Bethel is a place where people can feel safe belonging to the Lord and it’s a place where they can come to find the Lord. Bethel comprises of safe houses within a safe house. Those safe houses are the outreach groups which operate week by week and in many and varied ways try to bring the reality of the Kingdom of God into peoples’ lives.
Here at Bethel we operate with a Pastor, a group of Trustees (who by law are responsible for the day to day running of Bethel as a registered charity), a TEAM (who meet to oversee the regular running of Bethel) and a whole army of the people of God, who day by day live out their lives as witness to the faith they have placed in the son of God, Jesus Christ.
Together with everyone connected with Bethel, we all make up the community known as the Church that meets at Bethel, each one of us looking to fulfil our unique place in the Body of Christ, each one of us looking to Jesus for salvation, and each one of us looking to each other for support, love, loyalty and encouragement. This Church is made up of human beings who fail, get it wrong, mess up big time, and are in need of forgiveness. We don’t always give that which others need from us at the right time and in the right place. But we stand on one assurance: Our faith is not dependent upon a human being getting it right, but on the unfailing love of God shown to us through Jesus Christ.
Outside the main doors to the church building, we have printed "This church opens wide its doors, and in the name of Jesus, bids you welcome". That's the truth - if you're looking for something more in life - if you're looking for some rhyme and reason to why the world is as it is - if you're looking for hope and a future - you're in the right place !
Welcome to Bethel
With Love
Pastor Jill
ADDRESS
BETHEL CHAPEL Hill Street, Wollescote, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 8TL
admin@bethelchapel.org.uk
CALL US
01384 892137