A 305-year-old church in Wales has closed its doors after its congregation fell to just one worshipper.
The Welsh church closes after more than three centuries of worship at Tabernacle Chapel United Reform Church in Rhayader, Powys.
The chapel once attracted hundreds of worshippers. At its peak in the 1830s, about 400 people reportedly attended services there.
Over the decades, however, membership continued to fall until only 86-year-old Mike Bennett remained for regular Sunday worship.
Welsh church closes after congregation collapses
Bennett has attended the church since he was five years old. He also took on several responsibilities as the congregation became smaller.
The elderly worshipper served as the church’s organist and general secretary. He also handled pulpit supply duties and became treasurer after the sudden death of Dawn Jones in July.
Bennett said the growing responsibilities became too much, especially while caring for his wife.
He recalled a time when about 50 people attended weekly services during his childhood.
According to him, the number gradually fell over the years, leaving him to handle more of the work required to keep the church operating.
Bennett eventually decided he could no longer continue running the church alone.
He also questioned whether maintaining such a large building made sense for a congregation that had become so small.
‘Churches are all about the people’
Reflecting on the closure, Bennett said the building itself was never the most important part of the church.
He argued that the real value of a church comes from the people who worship there.
He also remembered the chapel’s more prosperous years, when its congregation was large enough to attract prominent professionals to church leadership.
The decline, he said, could be clearly seen over the years.
“If you drew a graph, it would be going down and down,” he said.
Chapel opened in 1721
The church’s history stretches back more than three centuries.
The original congregation met at a farmhouse before founder John Hanmer pushed for a permanent building.
The chapel was eventually constructed in 1721 after growing demand for worship made a larger and permanent place necessary.
The church also developed a connection with the Elan Valley and the Birmingham Corporation Water Department.
The organisation supported the chapel’s Sunday School and donated an ornate wooden chair. King Edward VII later sat on the chair during the official opening of the Elan Valley dams in 1904.
Church had a connection to Korea
Rhayader also has an unusual connection to the history of Christianity in Korea.
The town was the birthplace of Robert Jermain Thomas, a missionary credited with taking Christianity to Korea during the 19th century.
Thomas distributed Bibles in Pyongyang during his missionary work.
A Korean church continues to maintain links with the Welsh chapel and reportedly sends a group each year to hold a commemorative service.
Bennett said a delegation from the Korean church visited Rhayader earlier in 2026.
He was told that the congregation now has more than 2,000 members.
The contrast highlights the dramatic decline of the Welsh congregation, which once numbered hundreds but eventually reached a single regular worshipper.
For Bennett, the Welsh church closes after 305 years not simply because its building could no longer be maintained, but because the community that once filled it had gradually disappeared.