History

The church we now know as Meadowhead Christian Fellowship was originally an offshoot of Sheffield Housechurch and initially met in the Millhouses area of Sheffield.  As a result of Billy Graham’s visit to Sheffield in 1985, a number of people from the Batemoor and Jordanthorpe estate become Christians and joined the church so it felt right, a few years later, to move the church to that area in order to be part of God’s plan for Batemoor & Jordanthorpe – establishing a church, in an area with had none previously.  This was very much in line with our values and desire to reach people with no church background. Founding leaders and long-term members of MCF, Geoff & Pauline Williams, who had worked for CLC for many years in Asia, also instilled in MCF a passion to reach unreached peoples overseas and to welcome people from all over the world who make their homes in Sheffield.

Another milestone in the short history of the church came with the appointment of Jonathan Dunning in 1993 as full-time pastor – a position he was to hold for over 30 years.  Jonathan provided us with stable, godly, wise and caring leadership which saw the church steadily grow in numbers and vision.  Jonathan retired from MCF on 1st September 2024, after handing over the reins of senior leadership to Nick Lugg in June 2023.

A big opportunity to cement the church’s roots in Jordanthorpe and Batemoor came in early 2004, when we were able to purchase the building known as Unit 3.  –  a former SPAR shop on the Jordanthorpe shopping precinct. Over several months, we converted it for use by the church and the communities of Jordanthorpe and Batemoor. Our hope for this building was that it would provide a venue for local people of all ages, a place where people would find help in practical as well as spiritual ways. In 2016, we took out a lease on Unit 2, adjacent to the Heron shop, to expand the facilities available to support different activities.

With both venues now working to almost full capacity, in 2023 we took the decision to purchase the old Jordanthorpe Pub/Beechwood Day Nursery on the opposite side of the precinct. The building, now named “146”, is being developed to cater for the growing work of MCF