The fascinating History of the Apostolic Church in Resolven

Is this the opening or closing of the cabin at Tan y Rhiw? Any ideas.

 A Report on the November meeting of Resolven History Society

The speaker this month was Mr Marcus Thomas of Ammanford, though formerly of Bryn Terrace in Melincourt. He spoke on the fascinating history of the Apostolic Church in Resolven and a large audience came to hear his talk. In addition to his role as a pastor in the Elim Pentecotal Church he is also the chaplain to Ammanford Rugby Club!

He began his talk by stating that Resolven originally had at least nine chapels, 5 of which have now closed. Religion evidently played a significant role in the life of the village in that the Evan Roberts revival of 1904 had resulted in the cancellation of rugby fixtures for three seasons, and that the Salvation Army had a campaign there in 1910, establishing a cause in the vacated Seion chapel ( now the Community Centre) since the Calvanistic Methodists had moved in 1904 to a new chapel.

He then moved to explain that the Apostolic Church was a Welsh creation, and started in Ammanford and now has its world headquarters in Penygroes. However the movement had spread throughout the world since its foundation in 1916. It began its operations in Resolven in 1930, when it was based in a terraced house in Edwards terrace, Abergarwed from 1933. It later moved to Neath Road where Tommy “Moscow”, Evans had an organ included in the front room. The cause later moved to the “Ganu” at Melincwrt. In the post war years, Lambert Jenkins had hold of a cabin at Port Talbot and transported it to a site near the present day Scout Hut at Tan-y-Rhiw. Members at this time included Bryn Morgan, father of present pastor Jonathan Morgan. Several other well - known residents were mentioned at this point including Marcus’s parents .The services were not formalised  and were based on participation and included speaking in tongues , which the Apostolics believe is the actual voice of God.

The Forward Movement had a church in Resolven, which closed in 1960 near the park. This was then purchased by the Apostolic cause who renamed it Peniel, signifying tht this was a place to meet God., the Tan-y-Rhiw site was then vacated. The children were encouraged to collect halfpennies which figured a ship, in order to promote missionary work. Members of the church went all over the world and some members are still working overseas to this day. One member, met a young Fortunato de Santos in Brazil, and he as everyone knows is now the minister at Sardis, which ironically has also purchased the vacated Apostolic church as their community centre.

Mr David Woosnam, thanked Marcus Thomas for a fascinating talk, and one was left with the impression, how many younger people would be aware of the rich history of the cause in the village?

Trefor Jones

November Meeting

 

Deborah John "Blitzes" the audience.

 

A Report on the October meeting of Resolfen History Society

A large and enthusiastic audience attended this month’s meeting which featured the acting skills of Deborah John. The theme for the evening was the three night blitz which Swansea endured during February 1941. In a remarkable performance the actress brought alive the privations and dangers of the time, and indeed the gallows humour which accompanied such periods of crisis. Dressed in the uniform of and ARP warden of 1941, it was easy to believe that you were in the presence of the youngest ARP warden in the UK at the time, since the character had assumed the persona of a 17 year old when the minimum age was eighteen. The experience was even more impressive since the geographical locations within the blitz were familiar to the audience, and they were able to empathise fully.

Following the performance, the sources of the performance were explained and it was rather surprising that the details regarding the number of bombs dropped and the planes involved came from an examination of the German records regarding the raids since it would have been impossible to have counted them in the chaos that accompanied the raids.

Mr Barry Britzman, a former resident of Resolven had attended the meeting. He astounded both speaker and audience that he as a very young child had a very hazy memory of sheltering in a crypt in Swansea during one of the raids, this certainly brought the realisation that these events were still within living memory of some.

Mr David Woosnam thanked Deborah John for a most memorable evening.

Next month’s speaker will be Marcus Thomas who will speak on the history of the Apostolic Church in Resolven.

Trefor Jones.

October Meeting

 

Annual Meeting

 On September 9th, the Annual Meting of the Society will take place, Times are a little choppy at the moment and we need members to come forward to plug some gaps in the committee, I know this is normally true of every Annual meeting, but honestly this is a time for people to step up, otherwise we may have to curtail our activities. IT IS UP TO YOU!

Another Milestone 1983 -2024

 

A Report on the 40^th Anniversary Celebration of Resolfen History Society

Some 26 members and friends of the Society gathered at the Church hall to celebrate the milestone of having been in existence for over 40 years. Mrs Jane Llewelyn provided a sumptuous buffet for the occasion, which was enjoyed by one and all.

 

It was intended that the occasion would be an informal one and anecdotes were freely voiced of the history of the Society since October 1983. However, the formal aspect was not ignored and Mr Trefor Jones, read an extract from Resolfen Recalled which set out the early history of the Society and noted that at the turn of the Millennium the membership stood at 59 full members. He then took up the story of what had happened in the following 24 years. Firstly he paid tribute to the giants of the Society, in particular Phylip Jones who was the inspiration for its foundation in the first instance. He then pointed out some of the milestones, including memorial tablets to the Three Doctors of Music and to Professor Cliff Darby, who was and adviser to Churchill during the war. Reference was made to dinners, concerts, visits and treasure hunts held by the Society during the years. Reference was also made to the website which had received almost 250,000 visitors since its inception and included a digital modern history of the village via the work of Alun Morgan.

 

Turning to the more recent past, the Society had survived the pandemic with difficulty, and the road had been arduous in the past few years. However there were signs of recovery in the form of new members on both the committee and in general. Another welcome development had been the new found cooperation with sister organisations in the local area. In an age of instant satisfaction via Google it was important that original scholarship was given a platform in societies such as Cymdeithas Hanes Resolfen.

 

We now look forward to the 50^th celebration!

 

Trefor Jones

PS. The Society will now take a short break until September,

40th Anniversary Celebratory Tea.