About Us

Penpoll Methodist Church was formally opened for public worship on 30 January 1862. The building had been constructed by local and mainly voluntary labour at an approximate cost of £350.00 of which more than two thirds was borrowed. A Sunday Schoolroom was added by 1870 at a cost of £38.00. The room was enlarged in 1961. Sixteen years later, as a result of increasing youth work, an upper room was constructed over the Sunday schoolroom to provide a large open hall for meetings and games, with an adjoining kitchen. On this occasion the expense was about £9,000.00. To date our final refurbishment took place in 1992 when no new buildings were added but walls were damp proofed, floors were levelled, the kitchen was refurbished, window frames were replaced, woodworm was treated and internal and external decorations carried out. By former standards the cost of this work was astronomical. That we were able to be in a position to settle the accounts in full before the Contractors left the site is a tribute to the generosity of folk living locally, Methodist and non-Methodist alike, who speak of Penpoll as their Chapel.

Indeed we consider Penpoll Chapel to be the community centre. Young people (and not so young) gather here for table tennis. It is the meeting place for the local Women's Institute and for their functions and group activities. The Regatta Committee, a local residents' Association, the Friends of Point Quay, public meetings, social events and birthday parties for young and old are held here. We run monthly, a Coffee Stop and a Community Luncheon Party and to facilitate all these activities we are in the early stages of planning an extension to hold a larger kitchen and improved toilet facilities.

Resources

In an ideal world Christians in Penpoll would be able to meet and function in the community without reference to material things. Unfortunately this is not an ideal world!

Our two principal commitments are our building and membership of the Methodist Church.

There is a school of thought within the Methodist Church which feels that too much time and energy is absorbed by the buildings and not devoted to worthier matters. In Penpoll most of our members contribute in some way towards maintaining the building and 35% of our annual budget is devoted to building-related expenses. We believe that this commitment is justified. We are the only ‘public’ building in the village and the Chapel’s use by various village groups is part of our service to the community.

Membership of the Methodist Church absorbs a further 50% of our budget, and these monies go towards salaries, manses, missions etc etc

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