Gadfield Elm Chapel
The Gadfield Elm Chapel near the village of Pendock in Worcestershire , England , is the oldest surviving chapel in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .
The building was constructed in 1834 by the United Brethren , an apostate Methodist group led by Thomas Knighton . In 1840, then missionary Wilford Woodruff preached to the ward and converted all but one person of all 600 United Brethren members to Mormonism . After the conversion, Knighton and John Benbow deed the building to the Church of Christ .
As a Mormon chapel , the building was a center of Church activity in the area. Several regional conferences were held there, and Brigham Young made a speech there at least once. The chapel was sold by the Church in 1842 to fund the emigration of British Mormons to America.
The building was privately owned until it was bought by the Gadfield-Elm Foundation in 1994. This consisted of members of the church who wanted to keep the building. The foundation renovated and restored the chapel. It was then consecrated on April 23, 2000 by Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland .
The chapel was donated to the LDS Church in 2004 and was rededicated on May 26, 2004, this time by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley . The chapel is a historical landmark of the LDS church and entry is free.
literature
- Do you know where the oldest Mormon chapel in the world is? . BBC News . November 11, 2005.
- Gadfield Elm: The Oldest LDS Chapel in Europe . Pp. 76-77. October 1986.
- Historic chapel given to LDS . May 27, 2004.
- Little chapel's keys returned to the Church: President Hinckley accepts deed to Gadfield Elm Chapel — Church's oldest building . June 5, 2004.
- Dedicatory prayer of the Gadfield Elm Chapel . May 26, 2004.
- Ronan James Head: Creating a Mormon Mecca in England: The Gadfield Elm Chapel . Pp. 89-102. Fall 2006.
- Carol Wilkinson: Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: The British Isles . Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University . Pp. 41-59. 2007. Archived from the original on November 7, 2011.
Web links
- Gadfield Elm Chapel - Official Website
- Gadfield Elm - Mormon Historic Sites Foundation
- Gadfield Elm - Blog about Gadfield Elm by Andrew Mason (English)
- Gadfield Elm Blog - Collection of Personal Stories about the Chapel
Coordinates: 51 ° 58 ′ 46.5 " N , 2 ° 18 ′ 54.6" W.