Kulturstigen 12
The Bethel Chapel
The building was erected by the Pentecostal Free Congregation in 1946-1948.
The house was designed by preacher Rudolf Danielsson, an important figure of the Pentecostal movement and also the initiator of the so-called Lapland-week.
After the first groundbreaking by Albin Grenmyr and Elof Söderberg, the building of the chapel started under the direction of the builder Alvar Örnered from Adak, Botvid Hansson and other community volunteers.
The Pentecostal movement arrived in our area in the early 1930’s, mainly from Sorsele and Västerbotten, where it was already quite important at earlier times. The revival took hold in Gaza and Strömholm, and in 1932 the Gaza church was founded. At first there were sporadic meetings in the area, including here in Slagnäs.
The preachers Valdemar Grundström, Helmer Vesterberg and Napoleon Bjur, all from Västerbotten, had a great influence on the growth of the Pentecostal movement. They were all devoted ministers based on a living faith built on the experience of their own and others. They saw the need for salvation and Christianity was proclaimed with an understandable visual language; a powerful revival with the talk of repentance, atonement and the forgiveness of sins as important cornerstones.
A hundred years earlier, the so-called Sorsele readers worked in the same way. Perhaps that was a reason the Pentecostal movement had its deep roots in Sorsele. The first preacher to live in the village was Moody Rutegård. His wife Magda was a district nurse and also served in the area.
The two apartments in the house accommodated the Pentecostal priest with his family but also the district nurse and her reception. Before that, the nurse used to live in Bergnäsudden.
In the basement was Dr. Wallquist’s reception room also for the school’s hundreds of students. When the number of students finally dropped, the children's dining room was moved to the schoolhouse.
In 1988 the Bethel Chapel was closed as a free church.
Today the house is privately owned.