St Matthew
Sheffield, Yorkshire
Situated a stone's throw away from the heart of Sheffield, we are a Victorian church displaying various items from the Arts & Crafts era, such as fine copperware and reredos.
The church was founded in 1839 and members soon built a chapel in the city centre in 1841. As the membership grew, in 1859 they moved to a new three storey building constructed of stone, brick and slate on the edge of the city (at that time), a mile away on Cemetery Road. Further buildings were added in the 1860s and in 1900, providing a wide range of teaching accommodation. The whole complex was listed Grade II in 1993 and features in Pevsner’s Guide. The church became the mother church for several smaller Baptist churches in the suburbs of the city.
The church building is situated at the interface between the relatively affluent suburbs of southwest Sheffield and the economically and socially deprived parts of the Sheffield’s inner city. In recent years, apartment blocks have been built on previous industrial and housing land near the church. Most of the congregation, of around 150 adults and 30 children, commute to the church.
The church has a long history of welcoming immigrants, notably the 'Windrush' generation, whose descendants are a core part of the church fellowship. It has hosted Karen refugees, from Burma/Myanmar; and Congolese refugees, who contribute their own vibrant style of worship and meet for services in their own language. It has pastored a considerable number of refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Iran who attend the church’s Sunday services and hold their own fellowship meetings in the Farsi language. Many of these have been baptised at Cemetery Road over the past few years.
During the pandemic, the church was without a Lead Minister, but in March 2023, it welcomed a new Lead Minister, followed by a new Communications and Administration Lead in August 2024 and a new Associate Minister in August 2025.