1939 – 2021
Matthew Hill became widely known as Home Secretary of the Spanish Gospel Mission and did much to raise the profile of the Mission amongst churches.
Born in the New Forest, he was converted in his teenage years and his life was Christ-centred from that point onwards. It was not long after leaving school that he was accepted to study at Birmingham Bible Institute and on leaving there, he (and Jean, who he had known from their teenage years and who he had recently married) left for the unknown territory of Stockton-on-Tees to take over the running of the Quayside Mission. This was a place of refuge for the homeless and a gospel ministry was also carried on there.
A group of believers who had been meeting for worship formed Stockton Independent Evangelical Church and called Matthew to be their part-time pastor. Eventually, the church was able to invite him to become full-time in his pastoral work and this he gladly did.
