Seion, Cwmaman facts for kids

Seion, Cwmaman is a historic Welsh Baptist church. It was first started in 1859. The original church building closed in 2013. However, the church community still meets in a different place in the village.

The Start of Seion Church

The Seion church began when Cwmaman was a new mining town. People first held prayer meetings in John Weeks' house. Many of them were from another church called Gwawr, Aberaman.

The church building, called a chapel, was built in 1858–1859. The church members built most of it themselves. It cost about £300, which was a lot of money back then!

The chapel was rebuilt two more times. It was rebuilt in 1870 for £425. Then, it was rebuilt again in 1891 for £1,787.

The first leaders, called ministers, were Ebenezer Morgan (1859–1864) and T. T. Davies (1864–1866).

Thomas Humphreys: A Long-Serving Minister

In 1868, Thomas Humphreys became the minister. He served the church for a very long time, until 1910. That's 42 years!

During his time, he welcomed 1,700 new members into the church. Thomas Humphreys was also important in the community. He helped start the Aberdare Urban District Council. He was also a trustee for the Cwmaman Public Hall.

A big event called the 1904-05 revival greatly affected Seion. Many people who had only listened before became full church members.

After Thomas Humphreys, W.R. Lewis became the minister. He stayed until 1914. Then he moved to another church in Haverfordwest.

S.J. Leeke's Time as Minister

On February 14, 1916, S. J. Leeke became the new minister of Seion. He was from Talybont, Cardiganshire. He studied to become a minister at the South Wales Baptist College in Cardiff.

He started his work at the Public Hall. This was because the chapel was badly damaged by a storm in January 1916.

Later Years of Seion Church

After S.J. Leeke left in 1925, Seion church did not have a minister for four years.

D. Myrddin Davies started his ministry in 1929. He stayed for seven years. Then he moved to a church in Aberystwyth. T. Jones-Evans was the minister from 1927 to 1943. He then moved to a church in Carmarthenshire.

Harding G. Rees served from 1944 to 1955. Garfield Eynon took over in 1956. During his time, the church celebrated its 100th birthday! Eynon moved to Ebenezer, Ammanford in 1962.

The last minister at Seion was Reverend Gwilym Davies. Seion remained an active church until the early 2000s.