Gosen Apostolic Chapel, Pontardawe
Apostolic
Gosen Apostolic Chapel was constructed near the centre of Pontardawe in 1921. It is on the road that runs alongside the library, arts centre, and war memorial. As of Summer 2019, the pastor is Derrick Hopkins, and services are held at 10:30am on a Sunday, with 3pm for a family service, and at 10:30am on a Tuesday for an hour of prayer.
The website http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~cwmgors/history/Chapels.html#Ponty contains information on some of the chapels of Pontardawe. For Gosen Apostolic Chapel, it says: "In the book Around Pontardawe, the Second Selection by the Pontardawe Historians, 1999, it has a photograph of the elders of Gosen Apostolic church, Holly St in 1934." and that the Caption says:-
Gosen was built in 1921.....although there had been an Apostolic congregation in Pontardawe since at least 1911 ...... William James (1880-1954), the first overseer and pastor, emigrated to New Zealand in the early 1950s.
The name stone for Gosen Apostolic Chapel is above the front door:-
GOSEN
EGLWYS
APOSTOLAIDD
1921
and in English:-
Gosen Apostolic Church
1921
These photographs show the location of Gosen Apostolic Church, Pontardawe, at the junction of Holly Street (which it faces) and Tawe Terrace (which runs along the side).
These photographs of Gosen Apostolic Chapel, Pontardawe, were taken in July 2019.
Ministers of Gosen Apostolic Church
To date, the sources for the information below have been the book 'Around Pontardawe, the Second Selection, by the Pontardawe Historians, 1999, for information on the first pastor, and the information displayed on the notice board outside the chapel in 2019 for the name of the then-current pastor.
William James
William James was the first overseer and pastor of Gosen Apostolic Church. He was born in 1880, and emigrated to New Zealand in the early 1950s, dying in 1954.
Derrick Hopkins
Derrick Hopkins is listed on the noticeboard outside of Gosen Apostolic Church as being the minister, as of July 2019.
