Our Story

The Vision

The Manna House Mission Statement:

To establish an inter-denominational Christian centre of good standing which reaches out to the community and acts as a support and catalyst to churches in the locality.

The idea of the Manna House was originally conceived in the early part of 1980 and started with a very simple thought, much enthusiasm and £240 as a seed sown. Since then the idea has developed into a vision, the vision into a reality and the seed sown has been watered, grown and been blessed of God. The desire was that the Manna House should be like Old Testament manna - "a Godly provision in the wilderness" - reaching out to the unsaved community whilst being a complimentary support ministry to and a catalyst amongst local churches.

The vision for the Manna House was originally given to three young men, all working in different areas of the local business community, whose heart was to reach out in a practical way to the people of Northampton. An encouragement received very early on was found in Zec 4:10 (Living Bible) "Do not despise this small beginning, for the eyes of the Lord rejoice to see the work begin." After some 15 months of prayerful consideration, it was realised that others needed to be involved in order to make the concept become a reality. Contact was made with Rev. Harry Whittaker, whose advice and experience took the work into the next phase. A charitable trust was registered and a balanced team was drawn together to form the first Management Committee under the Rev. Whittaker's able Chairmanship. A feasibility study was undertaken and the idea was slowly made public, a growing interest encouraged the Committee to begin to look at properties. The thinking had developed and was to include a bookshop, coffeeshop, counselling service and youth outreach.