History

It began in 1931 as two men travelled from their village of Verwood, with a population of 1650 people and together they journeyed twenty miles to Bournemouth on the south coast. It was there that they attended a Tent Revival meeting led by George Jeffreys. Jeffreys was a Welsh evangelist who founded the Elim Church.

It was at this tent crusade that these two Verwoodians witnessed and received healing and gave their lives to Jesus. They returned and told others in the village of the power of Jesus and testified to being healed. Others in Verwood responded, some also received their healing and soon this small group of believers in Verwood planted a new church in the village. This became known as Bethel Chapel, an independent evangelical church.

The church purchased some land on Ringwood Road and a small chapel was built.

The size of Verwood has since multiplied and speeding toward 20,000 population. In 2023 Bethel Chapel changed its identity and affiliation to become an Elim Pentecostal church and is now known as Verwood Elim Church.