History of Macclesfield Christian Mission

It is over 100 years since the Macclesfield Town Mission first began and we give thanks for those years of faithfulness from the Committee and especially for the faithfulness of the Missioners and Deaconesses, also the workers, which has brought blessing and help to very many people. 

The First Forty Years - 1889-1929

Around the middle of the 19th century, a number of large cities in the British Isles established 'City Missions', of which Manchester was one of the first.  Founded in 1837 it became the biggest outside London and spread its influence far and wide.  On January 14th 1889, the Macclesfield Mission was founded.   The first Missioner was Mr Farndale, followed by Mr Wolstencroft. 

In 1898 Mr and Mrs Nathan Storey commenced a period of 28 years as Missioners in a semi-retired capacity.  The Annual Meeting of those years was a most important event.  It was necessary to hire the Majestic Cinema for the occasion because the Mission could not accommodate the numbers that attended.  Reports of that period also give insight into the activities which formed a regular part of Mission work which included:

  • prayer and Bible readings
  • outreach meetings in the form of open air meetings, women's meetings, Gospel services, etc.
  • Christmas parties for 'senior citizens'
  • Christmas afternoon tea for some 300-400 poor children
  • outings for men out of work
  • trips to the country or the seaside for children
  • free film exhibition at the local cinema
  • summer camps at Blackpool for some thirty children

These were undoubtedly the 'peak years' of Mission work for a variety of factors, social and economic, began to increase the challenge and seemingly reduce the effectiveness of the Mission's work.

Two Difficult Decades - 1929-1949

These years were plagued with financial problems and World War II broke out.  It was during the war in 1943 that a major decision was taken.  Manchester City Mission had its hands full in the City and Macclesfield was a long distance away.  By mutual agreement, control was passed to the local group of President and Vice-Presidents and the work became known as the Macclesfield Town Mission.

Changes were continuing in the local community also.  More estates were being built and the town centre was being de-populated.  Improved living conditions often have an adverse effect on attitudes towards God and the Christian life.  In one sense, the need for the Mission as a local relief agency was gone.  The need for it as a spiritual work for God in the Town, however, increased.

The Annual Report in 1947 included the following:

'Having no denominational barriers, recognising need apart from creed, and by intensely personal methods, the Mission has made human contacts by visitation of the homes of the people and by gatherings at the Hall during another year, with blessed results'.

1949 saw the sixtieth anniversary of Mission work and the President, Mr Morton, at the time said these words:

'If we have not achieved all that the original founders set out to do and been 'feeders' for the religious organisations of the Town, we have established a religious community composed largely of those whom the organised churches and chapels fail to reach ....'

Thirty Years On - 1949 - 1979

Over the next thirty years numerous 'Missioners' headed up the work in Macclesfield and the Reports throughout these years show a sense of the hardness of the way and the spiritual struggle the Lord's servants went through in seeking to be failthful to Him.  In 1975 the following comment was made:

'Sometimes we are confronted with tremendous difficulties and problems and the future seems uninviting, until we bring our faith in God into action and then we find the blessings of God being poured upon us and the difficulties become golden opportunities that enable us to know the power of God and with His blessings come light and understanding in the problems that seemed so great.'

The Next Ten Years - 1979-1989

1979 saw another change in leadership when Mr and Mrs Kjeldsen were very sure that the Lord had called them to Macclesfield.  This particular decade also saw 'God's New Thing' with the advent of the 'Choose Life' Bus.  It later emerged that 'God's New Thing' was even bigger than first realised for in addition the Lord also provided a large high top van, shelved and painted, to serve as a Mobile Christian Library.  A new era had certainly begun.  It was in this manner that one century of Mission work gave way to another.

2006 Onwards

As you will gather, there is very little information covering the period 1989 to date.  We know that the Mission continued to do the work God had set out for it and many people were charged with doing that work.  These workers were closely supported throughout in many ways by the members of the Management Committee and, vitally, the weekly prayer meetings were sustained throughout.  In 2005, during an uncharacteristic reduction in activity, the group prayed long and hard about the Mission and whether or not God wanted to use a different vehicle to continue the work and, therefore, close the mission.  However, because of their openness to God, the committee was given a vision by God to re-launch it and go 'back to basics'.

The vision was shared with me in the summer of 2005 and I felt God wanted me to be a part of the new regime.  It was felt that what had gone before had to be recognised as history and confined to the previous pages.  We had to look forward to allow God to strip the Mission down to grass roots level and start again.

In January 2006, the Mission was officially re-launched and Macclesfield Christian Mission was 'born again'.  In the ten months that I have been part of the Mission, we have managed to make Macclesfield churches and town aware that we are very much alive and mean business - God's business.

We have achieved a lot of what God intended; we started at the foundational level of children and youth work through the help of the schools within Macclesfield  This has proved to be a great success and it is an honour to be involved with the work within the schools.  This work will continue long into the future and is only one of the areas of work that God has laid down for us.  We as a Mission will continue to strive forward in showing the town God's love for them.  Other things are to follow and we wait on God for financial and human resources.

Every day becomes a great day in history for the Mission and we would have to write daily updates to show you the things God is doing in Macclesfield.  There will be regular newsletters on the wbesite for you to read in the very near future and in this way you will be able to share in prayer with us for the work of the Mission.

If you would like to purchase the book outlining the first 100 years of the Mission - 'One Hundred Years of Mission Work in Macclesfield' - please do not hesitate to contact us.

May God richly bless you.

Darren Hodkinson - Current Director