A brief history of Providence Chapel, Rowley….
The Chapel at Rowley was founded by a local iron trader, Daniel Matthews, in the 1820s. His ministry under God, was greatly blessed, resulting in the opening of the present Chapel in 1875 and subsequently the setting up of a similar chapel in Willenhall in 1879. Daniel Matthews served the church in Rowley from 1829-1888, a ministry of almost 60 years.
Daniel Matthews’ pastoral concern for the people of Rowley Regis further evidenced itself in the 1840s, when he, with others, joined the national campaign for the abolition of the notorious ‘Corn Laws’ which kept the price of corn and subsequently bread very high, causing significant distress amongst the poor. Also during his ministry, he compiled a number of written works, and again with the poverty of the district in mind, to save costs, compiled his own hymnbook. Many of the hymns he wrote himself and the book continued to be in use, alongside Gadsby’s Selection until very recent times. The present hymn books in use include Gadsby’s, Hymns for Worship, and Christian Worship.
Following on from Mr Matthews were Mr Alfred Dye, Mr Samuel Rutherford-Hunt, Mr Herbert E. Stonelake and Mr Timothy Martin.
In the 1960s and early 1970s the chapel had a very large and extensive Sunday School and young people’s work, fondly remembered even today by many who attended, and are still living in the area.
Many will remember the church in more recent times, under the faithful ministry of Mr Sidney Tromans and latterly, Mr Desmond McComb.
The present congregation is small but has the desire under God, to expand and grow.
The chapel premises today also host the Christian Heritage Centre, a work which is beginning to be nationally recognised among the churches as a storehouse, and visual testimony to the massive influence for good Christianity has had in our nation over the centuries. This is carried out through school visits, visits of local groups and organisations, openings for the general public, together with periodic lectures, and two annual book sales.
The Sunday services, at present are held at 2:45pm each Sunday afternoon, and are led by visiting ministers and itinerant preachers. Services are in the traditional style and easy to follow, the Bible readings are taken from the Authorised Version, and doctrinally the church stands on the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. All visitors are welcome, including those from other churches who may be free on the Lord’s Day afternoon, who may like to come along from time to time to encourage the congregation and contribute, by their presence, to the further development of this work.
Monthly prayer meetings are held between 11.30am and 12.30pm on the second Wednesday each month. Again, all are welcome.
The chapel, surrounded by a large local population, is a large, substantial and imposing building, recently repainted and cannot be missed by passers-by!
Spiritual reflections on Providence Chapel, Rowley….
The name of the chapel is ‘Providence’, and providence refers to God’s wise governance of the world. Providence has to do with the belief that God exercises a divine, wise, sovereign and benevolent control over all things, and though often His ways are perplexing and beyond our comprehension, nevertheless, goodness and mercy, truth and justice, are in ultimate control. The providence of God is the antidote to believing that the world is governed by chance, and that nothing ultimately in the world has any meaning or purpose.
The hymn writer speaking of God’s providence sums this up in the lines:
It’s darkness dense is but a radiant light;
Its oft – perplexing ways are ordered right.
Soon all its winding paths will end, and then the tale
Of wonder shall be told beyond the veil.
Providence Chapel is solidly built, said to be built on foundations of Rowley Rag, and one of the longest standing buildings in Rowley today.…..
Our Lord told the parable of the wise and foolish builders. The one built his house upon the rock, and the other on the sand. The first was wise the second was foolish.
In the parable winds and the waves beat upon the house of the foolish builder and it fell and great was the fall thereof. The same winds and waves beat upon the house of the wise builder and the house stood.
All of us need firm foundations for our life because there will inevitably be storms and tempests, troubles and trials, sicknesses and deaths that will threaten to overcome us. The man or woman who builds on the rock, which is Jesus Christ and what he did on Calvary to save His people from their sins, will stand, whatever comes, even on the day of the final judgement of God.
Providence Chapel has seen from its vantage point on Rowley Hill, many changes in the surrounding area.…
At one time, across the road from the chapel stood ‘Bell End Colliery’. It is said that the coal was dug from the ground by digging out a bell-shaped excavation, and hence the name Bell Colliery.
There are many changes in this world, but there are some things that do not change. One thing that does not change is human nature, fashions may change, knowledge may increase as we build on the experience of those who have gone before us, but essential human nature is the same in all ages. The fundamental needs of the human heart, mind and soul do not change. Fundamental truth doesn’t change, fundamentally wrong, doesn’t change. What is morally right has always been the case, what is morally wrong likewise does not change, whatever some today would have us believe.
Men and women today ask the same perplexing questions regarding the meaning of life as Job did thousands of years ago. Men and women seek for love and affection as our forebears did years ago. Men and women seek relief from a nagging and accusing conscience, as did Adam and Eve, at the very beginning of the centuries. Some things never change. The fact of the matter is that all men and women were made to find their highest happiness and bliss in God, and this will always be the case. While men run and hide from God, they can never ultimately find fulfilment and happiness. All of us have rebelled and sinned against God, and we can never be at peace in such a condition. Jesus Christ, the Son of God came into the world to reconcile men and women to God, through his sacrifice on the Cross. It will always be the case that those who come to him, He will in no wise cast out.
Most of us live today in what we call a secular age, i.e. a God-rejecting age. However, what most of us, I believe, are beginning to see quite clearly, is the failure of secularism. It is now high time for a change, that is, turning back to the God of our forebears, through the mercies and merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
As a hymn that some of us used to sing at school puts it:
He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by his precious blood.