About the Organiser

Don't Throw Money Away ! Used Stamps are Valuable !

Arthur Rowley was born in Bolton, Lancashire, England, in 1931 so is not a youngster but well experienced in Christian activity since making a positive commitment to the Christian faith at the age of 15. Of Christian Brethren upbringing Arthur and his twin brother, Tom, met many people of other Christian faiths when they were both conscripted into the Royal Army Medical Corps for the compulsory two-years National Service in 1951.

Upon returning to civilian life Arthur resumed his job as a shipping and export clerk with a large family tanning company for three years before embarking on an administrative career in the National Health Service which he continued until his retirement in 1980.

During this time he was active in many churches ministering in word and song, also being the founder and deputy conductor of the Norfolk Male Voice Praise Choir and, on moving to Sheffield in 1962, became the principal conductor of the Sheffield MVP.

Arthur married Ruth in 1958 and together they have built up the SfCM in addition to parenting three children, one of whom is also an ordained Christian minister.

After a short administrative commitment in the north east of England, Arthur spent one year as a missionary in 1968/9, in the Transkei, South Africa, together with his wife and three young children where he planned a new mission hospital in Encgobo under the auspices of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

On returning to the UK he resumed his hospital administrative career and designed the Milton Keynes Medical Records System for Primary Health care before embarking upon a three-year degree course in Theology with Spurgeon’s Baptist College in South Norwood, London.

Before going to Bible College, Arthur was the Lay Pastor of the Bellinge Evangelical Church, Northampton, where he felt the call to full-time ministry and, during his study period, assisted in the ministry of Broadmead Baptist Church, in the same town.

In 1986 Arthur was co-founder and joint Elder of the Leighton Christian Fellowship, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England. In 1990 he was invited by Rural Ministries to kick start the Blagdon Evangelical Church Fellowship near Taunton, England, where he laboured with his wife for just one experimental year returning to his home in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England in 1991.
During his many visits to the Filey Holiday Crusades in the seventies, Arthur became interested in Christian Missions and how he could get involved in supporting them. At that time there was a market for used and unused postage stamps but it was not until 1985 that he was able to set up the SfCM organisation to help fund missionary endeavours.