Sunday School with a difference.

Well, not Sunday School actually: it was a midweek holiday club called 'Starship Discovery' which our church is holding at the moment for over 60 children. A few of the intrepid explorers are at the controls of the spaceship here. (Click on picture to enlarge it)

Some thoughts about Sunday Schools

We watched recently a TV programme about the history of the rise and decline of Sunday Schools. The Sunday School movement was founded by Robert Raikes, editor of the Gloucester Journal, in the late 18th Century. In those days (as today) there were young hooligans on the streets, though the difference then was that the troublemakers were mostly young impoverished children on their day off from work, namely Sunday. He determined to do all he could to better their lot and started a Sunday-school to teach them Christianity, morals, and also how to read and write. Before long, Sunday Schools were opening all over the country. This was greatly opposed by many wealthy people who were afraid that it would raise the poor above their station in life, and they feared it might lead to the horrors which were happening across the Channel in the French Revolution. The Prime Minister, William Pitt, even hoped to pass a law to ban Sunday-schools, though he was overtaken by other events and the law was never passed. Sunday Schools thrived, and at their peak something like 50% of the children in Britain were attending Sunday Schools voluntarily. They peaked in the 1930s, but the real decline in attendance dates from the 1950s onwards, and today only 5% of children go to Sunday Schools.

We meet and talk to many of the older generation who often find it difficult to remember recent events, but can remember with great pleasure their Sunday-School days. They remember the stories they learnt, the anniversaries, the outings, and can often remember the hymns and choruses which they can still sing.

Most of today’s generation of children know nothing of this and will never acquire the knowledge and understanding of the stories, the moral values and the message of the Bible. As street violence, drug and alcohol problems and knife crime flourish in ‘empty soil’, I cannot help feeling that we are in the process of losing something of immeasurable value. The Sunday School (or Junior Church, as it is called), flourishes in our own church as well as Crusaders (now rebranded ‘Urban Saints.) Would that there were many more such drops in the ocean.!

Weston-super-Mare

We visited Weston-super-Mare just a week before the tragic fire which destroyed the pier. The first picture was taken by our friend Barry Blanchard. The second picture was taken one week later, and I got this off the internet. However, there are other attractions at Weston. First, an amazing display of sand sculptures, and then a picture of Wendy with Barry and Pat studying a model of the development at Knightstone Pier, where the old buildings are being converted into luxury apartments.

TLC Garden Party

Our church put on a garden party for Tuesday Lunch Club (TLC), which caters for the older members of the congregation and friends. As last year, we also invited the Corsham Disabled Club to join us. The cream tea was accompanied by a puppet show and music.

Shaftesbury

Wendy with her mum, Joan, at the top of Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, whilst an elderly resident in the background makes the laborious ascent. Joan knew Shaftesbury well in her younger days, when she lived at Gillingham, Dorset. Gold Hill became especially famous as the location of the TV ads for Hovis bread some years ago, though they misleadingly caused people to believe that the location was somewhere in Yorkshire!

At the Pump Room

Wendy enjoys tea and music at the Pump Room in Bath

On our recent visit to Exeter we visited Eva's ballet class to see the progress she and her friends have made since they started.

Junior Church Outing

Our Junior Church outing this year was held at Neston Recreation Ground. Here the children are watching a puppet show.