The first thing that strikes you about Lebanon Chapel is the wonderful view.
In front of you you will see the magnificence of the Gower and the Loughor estuary and behind you you will see the solidity of the Graig. The downside is that the chapel is on the top of Libanus hill, where there is not much parking space!
The case was started in 1875 and the chapel was founded on 3 September 1878, ‘in order to meet the great demand’ in the area. It seems that according to the eye of witnesses ‘so many people have not been seen in the Pool for years than on this afternoon when the foundation stone of this new Meeting House was laid.’
There has been a turnaround since the pandemic in 2020 and today there are 57 remaining members. Of those, a loyal core of around fifteen members worship regularly but although many of our members are scattered they still contribute to the cause.
Ministers
Over the years we have been very fortunate in our ministers. Among them were the Reverends T. Elfyn Jones, E. Cadfan Phillips, J. M. Gwyn Rhys, D. Gylfa Evans, Emyr Jones and Alun Jones. By now, although we don’t have a minister we manage to hold one weekly service. If there is no minister available the members undertake the work. Although there are a number of active independent Welsh speaking churches outside the town, Libanus, Pwll is now the only independent Welsh speaking chapel in the Llanelli area that holds a service every Sunday.
Support for local and foreign charities is an important part of our activity and in addition to our weekly support for the Myrtle House food bank, we contributed generously towards several humanitarian appeals during the year.
Throughout the years dedicated teachers worked in the Sunday school presenting services such as on Mother’s Day, St David’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas presentations and more. Unfortunately since the lockdown there is no weekly Sunday school but a small number of children and young people still participate during members’ services and on special holidays
Although the number of members has decreased, the maintenance costs of the building are increasing and the money from the contributions is decreasing drastically, it was decided in 2023 that improvements must be made to our steep cemetery. The old rotten wooden steps were removed and new concrete steps were erected. The work was completed by Christmas and climbing the steep path is much easier for the members and for those who visit the graves of loved ones. We were fortunate to receive financial support from the Tithe Fund, Carmarthenshire County Council which will contribute 20% towards the cost.
Celebration
During 2023 four of our members celebrated their 90th birthday: Beti Thomas, Jean Evans, Avril Parry and John Jones. It was John Jones’s turn on 21 December and a celebratory tea was held for him after the Christmas service. A gift was presented from the members as a token of our appreciation for his contribution to the cause over the years. He was conscientious treasurer for many years as well as looking after the Sunday school bank with his wife Jean.
There is great poverty in the Llanelli area and the members feel that it is important to support the work of one of the five food banks in the town, the Myrtle House food bank. Special thanks to Elizabeth Thomas for knitting and crocheting dozens of toys and Christmas decorations to sell for the benefit of the cause. The abundance of gifts bought with the money was in addition to our usual monthly food collection. Thanks to Deryth Davies for coordinating it all.
