Bold, Joseph Morris, MC
1887-1967; e.m. 1913

Born at Runcorn, Cheshire, he entered the WM ministry in 1913 and became an army chaplain soon after the start of World War I. He was awarded the Military Cross for bravery as a chaplain and served in that capacity for seven years.

Appointed to the Brighton and Hove Circuit in 1921 to re-start the Dome Mission, he had no weekday base and the *Home Mission Committee was asked to 'take steps to house the mission'. As a result, in 1924 he took charge of Dorset Gardens Church and made that the base of the Dome Mission. He led an extremely active ministry in Brighton for seven years, conducting open-air worship on the beach and starting several church groups including a Dome Mission Brass Band. He was also active in social areas, introducing a 'clothes bank', help for the unemployed to find work, and an annual tea for 1,000 children. He planned the large extensions to Dorset Gardens but left the circuit in 1928 before they were started owing to the illness of his wife. Other circuits in which he served included the Leysian Mission (1930-1934) . He retired to Storrington, Sussex in 1944 because of ill health, but when a Methodist class meeting was started there in 1960 he became the honorary pastor. It was 'largely due to his energy, drive and commitment' that Storrington Methodist Church was built, but he died a few weeks before the church was opened in March, 1967.

He died at Midhurst Cottage Hospital on 12 January, 1967. True to his ecumenical outlook, his funeral was conducted by the rector at the parish church and he had arranged for Dr. David Cashman, the Roman Catholic bishop of Arundel and Brighton to preach on the first Sunday in the new church.

Sources
  • E. Margaret Pook, The Leysian Mission 1886-1986, London (1986
  • History of Trinity Methodist Church, Storrington, 2000 (website of Trinity Methodist Church, Storrington)
  • Michael R. Hickman, A Church with a Mission – The History of Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, Brighton and the Dome Mission, Brighton (2008)

Occupations

Entry written by: MH
Category: Person
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