Two things stand out very clearly about the people who made up the early congregation: their faith and their determination. The country was still recovering from the first World War, money was scarce yet here they were faced with raising £3000 for an extension (the side aisle and vestry areas) and that was just for starters. In those days that was a lot of money, in fact it still is. That first £3000 was quickly raised and work began.

The foundation stone/memorial was laid on January 27th 1923 by Mrs Davies a prominent member of the congregation and the daughter of Councillor Clement Cotton.

Another £5000 remained to be raised. It was to be another 10 years before that debt was finally cleared. The congregation went to work with a will continuing to raise money. However as the extension began to rise news came that two brand new churches were to be built in Blackburn. There were many recriminations about hasty decisions and as the years passed it was realised and admitted that the extension had been a mistake.

All credit to the church members they put their disappointment behind them and continued with great faith and prayer, very slowly bit by bit raising the money. The building was completed and opened by the Bishop of Burnley.

Another great day in the life of the church was 3rd March 1923 when the Rev. John Maddock was inducted as the first vicar of the Church of the Saviour. Church Pastoral Aid Society became patrons giving an annual grant towards the vicar's stipend. It had taken almost 22 years to become a parish church.

Many people were generous in their support of the church and this proved a great encouragement to those who were working so hard. One of these was Councillor Cotton who was generous both with his financial support but also his encouragement of both Christ Church and The Saviour. The organ was one of his last gifts to the church and is still enhancing the worship to this day.

Youth work has always been one of the hallmarks of the church and following one of the many successful missions the conversion of one of the young people, Jim Hepworth, resulted in the formation of a lively branch of the National Young Life Campaign. As a result the youth work went from strength to strength with lively Saturday evening meetings along with open air meetings both in the parish and the Market Square. All these meetings attracted large numbers, especially the monthly young people's service, which saw young people travelling in from quite some distance.

The church certainly reaped the benefit with a constant supply of Sunday school teachers coming from this group. It was through these meetings that many of the young men of the parish heard and answered the call to go into the ministry.

Mr Maddock wisely allowed these would-be vicars to take the lead in the young people's work. The energy and zeal of these young Christians was harnessed to great effect and evangelisation continued an integral part of parish work.

The hut has its own unique place in the history of the church. Being a wooden structure and very exposed to the elements sited as it was, and because its constant use was essential to the work of the church, the battle to keep it in good repair was never-ending.

The story is told of the concert held in the hut one wild and stormy night. It was the cause of quite some hilarity as the audience listened to a young lady singing "Bless this house" especially when she got to the words "..... Bless these walls so firm and stout, keeping want and trouble out......" as the whole structure rattled and creaked and shook as the storm raging outside threatened to lift the building off its foundations.

The burden of debt on the church suddenly increased when a new vicarage became a matter of urgency as the house in Sunny Bank Road was condemned. The vicarage was built in the summer of 1925 on the site of the tennis courts in its current position at a cost of £2,345. A thriving tennis club grew up around the courts which were relaid at the rear of the church. This became a well established part of the church's social life.

By 1930 the parish had raised well over £7000 and the debt stood at just under £1000. Many and varied were the innovative ways of raising money which the congregation continued to come up with and the total crept slowly higher.

Another challenge was soon to face the congregation as in the summer 1931 Mr Maddock resigned as vicar, feeling the time had come for him to move on and hand the work on to someone else. So our first vicar moved on to St Mark's, Preston. The Church of the Saviour was about to face it's first interregnum.