Our Story
Hello,
We would like to introduce ourselves.
The Snowdonia Christian Fellowship Evangelical Church came into being in October 1991 after a small group of people had spent many months in prayer waiting on the Lord for His direction. During that time it became clear, to each person in the group, that God was calling them to set up an independent Evangelical Church. Once this was agreed upon, while we were praying together one evening, the caretaker from the Calvinistic Methodist Church in Beddgelert knocked on the door where we were praying and asked if we would like to share the Chapel building. This was indeed God’s timing and confirmed His will.
We spent ten happy years using that building and had many opportunities to watch God at work. Towards the end of those ten years we seemed to have got into a bit of a rut. God had told us clearly that we would shrink, but we would grow. We had by that time taken our midweek services to various homes in the area. Then the bombshell dropped ! The Methodists wanted to sell the building - would we like it. It was a unanimous decision that we should not buy the Chapel Vestry. We were now a "Church with no home" !
We seemed to be shrinking by the week, with people moving because of work and family responsibilities. Again the Lord spoke to us all, one simple word "Expand". When we had finished laughing at such a prospect, we realised that God was actually saying just that! Someone suggested that we took the Sunday services on the road as we had the midweek meeting. After a further time of mirth we again realised that God was yet again speaking directly into our situation.
During our time in the Chapel, at one point, the Church in Wales had shared the building with us while theirs was being refurbished. When we lost the Chapel building they invited us to share their building with them for two Sunday mornings a month - and, for a while, all the denominations in Beddgelert share the same building for worship. Soon after this, we were introduced to the village hall in Llan Ffestiniog. This interested us a lot because we had a burden for the Vale of Ffestiniog - Blaenau, in particular. Soon we arranged two evening services a month in Llan Ffestiniog. We chose the evening so as not to encroach on service times of the local Church in Wales.
In 2005, our services in Ffestiniog came to an end and, after a further few months "on the road", we returned full-time to Beddgelert for our Sunday services. We meet in the Community Hall week-by-week and, though we remain small in number, we have great times of worship, fellowship & Bible teaching.
Our midweek meetings are held in various places - usually on a Wednesday.
Everyone has a job to do. Apart from practical jobs, each person is responsible for the immediate area in which they live, to reach out with the gospel, wherever and whenever and however they can. This is a very personal ministry and everyone will have different ways of doing their bit. This does not mean that each person can go off and act on behalf of the Church and do their own thing regardless. It means that we all take the opportunity to LIVE CHRIST where we are. If in the process someone feels they want to start a meeting, special outreach or whatever, it is first discussed with the leadership team, prayed over and God’s will sought about it. This ensures that any work that is done in the name of the Church has the full backing and support of its members.
By having our Sunday services as they are, this means there is ample opportunity for everyone to work in their own area and, at the same time, receive teaching, prayer, fellowship and encouragement as well as leadership and pastoral care.
We do not know when God did all this - only that He has.