The main man behind Scripture Union was Josiah Spiers, “a sprightly Victorian bachelor with a bushy beard”. Although he lived in an age where it was thought that children were incapable of making decisions to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour, he thought differently. He believed that children could grasp the truths of Scripture if they were taught in the proper way. And so he started special services for children in London. These services became so popular that he, together with a group of dedicated co-workers, registered the mission as the Children’s Special Service Mission (CSSM) in 1867.

But it ceased to be only a London-based mission the next year when Josiah went on holiday to a beach resort in North Wales. At the resort, which was very popular with the upper classes from all over the nation, Josiah noticed scores of children playing aimlessly on the beach. Ever one to make the most of every opportunity, he called the children together and traced on the sand “GOD IS LOVE”. This was followed by a Bible story. Captivated by the Bible story they asked him for more, refusing to let him stop until it was time to return to their boarding houses. He repeated his beach sessions throughout the 11 days of his holiday drawing up to 400 children and adults to his meetings. They took stories of the CSSM to every corner of the nation and it became a truly national body. CSSM became Scripture Union, a  Union of Scripture readers, when a young Sunday School teacher named Annie Marston stepped into the picture in 1879.

She persuaded the leaders of CSSM to produce cards for children with Bible portions to be read daily. These cards became so popular that requests for them came not only from the United Kingdom but around the world.

By 1923 these cards were replaced by notes with comments and explanations and the name Scripture Union was officially adopted. Its mission was not only to reach out to children and young people with the gospel but also to provide Bible reading notes to encourage Christians of all ages to read the Bible daily. This continues to be the mission of SU in its 135 centres around the world.

Scripture Union in Peninsular Malaysia

Being a British colony it didn’t take long for Scripture Union cards to reach Malaya. The earliest SU branch was formed in 1899 in Penang. Fifty-five years later, Cecil Johnston, an SU worker in India came to Malaya and stayed 7 weeks. During that time, he visited 44 schools and spoke to 17,000 pupils. As a result 1,600 new members joined SU.

In 1961 SU was officially registered in the country.