The year 2000 marked an important milestone in the life of our church fellowship in Otley Methodist Church. It was our anniversary year of 250 years of Christian witness in premises built for the Methodist people.It was also the 125th anniversary of the present Chapel, and we celebrated 200 years of Sunday School work.We gave thanks for over 250 years of Methodist worship within buildings dedicated to serving God in our community and proclaiming God‘s love for us.
In
1750 a small society of Methodist’s
worshipped in a cottage near Silver Mill.
This was the first building to
be used regularly by the Methodist people.
The first purpose built worship centre was situated
in Nelson Street. The Nelson Street (or Walkergate) Chapel was opened in 1771 and John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church,
preached in this building on a number of occasions.
In
1826 the Wesleyan Methodist’s built
a new Chapel on Boroughgate and used the Nelson Street premises as a
Sunday School.
The present building was opened for
worship on September 8th 1875 and had a seating
capacity of 1000The adjoining Wesley Hall and ancillary rooms were
opened in 1905 to cater for a Sunday School of 500 scholars, 150
infants and 120 adults.
Records show that a Sunday School was opened on
April 20th, 1800 in the Walkergate Chapel.The former Primitive and Wesleyan congregations
formed the Otley Methodist Church in 1965. In 1973 a
refurbishment project was completed which provided a large foyer to the
Chapel and alterations to the Wesley Hall.
In 2005 we completed an ambitious
redevelopment scheme costing £300,000 to improve access and
facilities. The church premises are well used by church and community.
A warm Christian welcome is given to
all our visitors.
