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Sunday School.

(40 Posts)
annsixty Mon 25-Sep-17 11:03:50

On another thread kittylester referred to going to Sunday School.
Did you go?
I was sent twice every Sunday to the local Methodist chapel.
I think it was a way of getting children out of the way.
I was certainly going until the age of about 12 when we older children kept the very young ones amused whilst the middle ones studied the Bible.
Sunday's were very dull days with no playing out and as we didn't have television we read until bedtime.
I cannot imagine what some of the then older folk would think now of shops being open and entertainment of every type taking place.

hildajenniJ Mon 25-Sep-17 11:12:20

I went to the Methodist chapel every Sunday morning with my sisters, Dad and Grandparents. My Mother stayed at home and made the roast dinner. We went back to Sunday School at 2:00pm. We wore our Sunday best dresses, and were only allowed out in the back garden. In the evening my Mother and Dad went to Church, and sometimes we went with them, but mostly stayed at home (when we were old enough). We were given the task of preparing the Sunday evening supper. Before going to bed we had to polish our school shoes in preparation for the next day!

annsixty Mon 25-Sep-17 11:18:46

hilda was the supper cold meat from the roast and pickles?
Ours was every week.

JackyB Mon 25-Sep-17 11:21:08

We have photos of us dressed up in our little dresses and hats from Sunday school, which we attended on Sundays at the Anglican church in the village. I vaguely remember learning about a few Bible stories and having a book to stick pictures in (the size of large stamps).

Later we went to a Catholic convent (credited with the best 11+ results, so our parents sent us there from age 9-11), whree of course, religious education was considered very important, so Sunday school would have been superfluous. I used to go to the chapel on my own every lunch time! During those years, our Sundays were spent having riding lessons, while Dad went to the pub.

Teetime Mon 25-Sep-17 11:30:03

I loved Sunday school and bible stories. I joined the choir when I was a bit older and then went three times on Sundays as I loved the little church. It all stopped when I found boys at 15!
I would love to go back to the Church now but I'm old fashioned and like Prayer Book services and the King James bible which seem to have been abandoned. Gransnetters may remember my horror of finding the Rector had dressed up as Darth Vader to deliver the Christmas morning service - I was devasted and I'm not often. sad I expect to be told to 'get with it' now.

Anniebach Mon 25-Sep-17 11:33:32

Went every Sunday morning, the first part was in the chapel , every child stood and delivered the verse they had learned whilst adults listens, the pastor gave a children's talk, then a child's hymn , we then went to the Sunday school class at the back of the chapel , had bible study and chat then collected by parents after their service ended, all walked home together. I loved it.

kittylester Mon 25-Sep-17 11:39:30

Sundays were sooooooo boring when I was young. The Sunday School was very close to our house and we went every Sunday morning. I think my parent's used it as a way of getting rid of us while Mum did the lunch - not sure what Dad did.

All the children in the village went either to the same one as us or the one in the Church Hall at the other end of our very long village.

I loved it and showed some aptitude so the wonderful Dr McLean took me under his wing. He was a medical doctor and also a doctor of divinity and everyone loved him. He was a real Christian. He had an exotic wife (well, she was the daughter of his housekeeper from his time in the Middle East!!) and he drove a big American car.

The rest of Sunday was very long and uneventful.

Christinefrance Mon 25-Sep-17 11:39:31

I was brought up as a Methodist as well. Chapel in the morning and evening and Sunday School in the afternoon. No activities allowed as annsixty said, no shopping, cleaning, playing of games etc. We were allowed to go for a walk or read. Mother cooked the Sunday lunch so no respite for her. I remember my parents social life revolving around chapel activities, choir practices bible study womens group.
Does anyone remember the annual Sunday School treat where we all went off for the day in a charabanc. I still have a couple of books I received as prizes for perfect Sunday School attendance.

SueDonim Mon 25-Sep-17 11:54:32

My brother and I did the rounds of Sunday Schools in our town. My mother was Welsh chapel so we didn't go to CoE church but I recall going to The Congregational church, the Baptist church and the Methodist church. We, along with other children, got thrown out of that one for throwing paper balls from the balcony at the ladies down below in their Sunday hats. grin

We took an old penny for collection, as I recall. I didn't enjoy it much, it was pretty boring. We'd go home and mum would have Sunday dinner on the table.

In the afternoons, if my dad was home (he worked shifts) we'd go out somewhere in the car. That was nice. smile

annsixty Mon 25-Sep-17 12:03:34

We also took one old penny for the collection and another for a Missionary society and we would get a postage stamp size photograph of a foreign child which was called a sunny smile.
Our pennies were supposed to go to them.

Juliette Mon 25-Sep-17 12:50:44

Hear the pennies dropping,
Listen while they fall.
Every one for Jesus,
He will get them all

I always wondered why Jesus who, as far as I could tell was
'Above the bright blue sky' and definitely 'A friend for little children' was going to do with all those pennies. He couldn't buy anything with them not in the bright blue sky anyway.
I must have only been about three or four and was obviously over thinking things even then.

Ilovecheese Mon 25-Sep-17 13:31:07

I was brought up Catholic so no Sunday school for me either

Greyduster Mon 25-Sep-17 13:34:36

I only went to Sunday School a few times. I absolutely hated it and refused to go again. My mother despaired of me, but gave in gracefully.

BlueBelle Mon 25-Sep-17 13:34:37

No I never went to Sunday school

tanith Mon 25-Sep-17 13:41:14

I don't think I had even been inside a church until at about 8 I was sent to my Aunt who lived in a small village for a weeks holiday every Summer . She sent me along on Sunday along with my cousin to the local church, I remember being terrified of the whole thing I had no clue what was going on, now I realise it wasn't a happy smiley church everything was strict and serious. I hated that part of my holiday.

wildswan16 Mon 25-Sep-17 13:54:55

Thank you Juliette ! I had totally forgotten that verse until you reminded me of it. I've been singing it ever since. We always had a threepenny bit to put in the collection.

BBbevan Mon 25-Sep-17 14:01:53

Yes I went on a Sunday afternoon. We had stories, songs, coloured stickers for attendance and a Christmas party and Whit Walk. I once went to a Methodist Sunday School with a friend. It was much more fun .I remember a song about a ' funny little man who climbed up into a tree' ! Only went the once though as my Mum was strictly CofE

annsixty Mon 25-Sep-17 14:11:26

That was Zachias.You have reminded me of that now, I think it will be an earworm for the rest of the day.

callgirl1 Mon 25-Sep-17 16:46:21

Yes, I went to Sunday school, along with my siblings. My mother and step-father weren`t churchgoers, but we went to the Sunday school at the local Congregational church, in a hall at the back of the church. There was a separate room for the littlies, called the primary, then when we got a bit older we were in the main hall. The teacher was Mr.Noble, and there was a secretary called Peter, and a young woman called Pamela, but don`t know what she did. When we were bored, we`d take hazel nuts to Sunday School, and place them on the floor so that when we stood up to sing hymns we trod on them and there was a very satisfactory CRACK!
At the whit walks which went right round the village, we were led by the local brass band, the Elsecar main colliery band, they wore a dark green uniform, and there was a lorry for the little ones to ride on the back when they got tired of walking. It was the only time that we got new clothes, that were then our Sunday best.
Once a year there was prize giving, and we received books for attendance, whichever book you got depended on how many times you`d been. I never got the "big" prize, which was a Bible, but that never worried me!
We went twice, morning and afternoon, and most Sunday afternoons I`d get the bus afterwards and visit my great aunt Rose, who lived at Hoyland Common, I adored her, I`d have my tea there, then get the bus home in the evening.

blossom14 Mon 25-Sep-17 17:14:08

Yes, I also went to Sunday School run by two elderly spinsters (well they seemed elderly to me). Always had a 'best coat and shoes' which probably came for C & A. As I was an only child I enjoyed the company and the seaside outings and the Christmas parties with children from the local orphanage.
At the time we lived on a really deprived estate but not many of the local children went, I don't think their Mum's had enough money to do Sunday Best, as this was in 1946 and money was very tight.

Moneyboss Mon 25-Sep-17 18:00:42

I was brought up a Catholic so no Sunday school but had to go to Catechism every Saturday.

maryeliza54 Mon 25-Sep-17 18:12:12

My sister and I went to Sunday School every week. One Sunday there was a problem and we were sent home early. As we arrived home I noticed that my parents bedroom curtains were closed. My dad came down to let us in and said they were in bed because they had suddenly become ill but were better now shock

TerriBull Mon 25-Sep-17 18:16:51

There didn't seem to be an equivalent of Sunday school in the Catholic church, but we didn't get off the hook, oh no!. Mass in Latin and if we were really unlucky dragged back to church in the afternoon for Benediction hmm

grannyactivist Mon 25-Sep-17 18:23:16

Mine was very much a non-church family, but wanting to take part in the Manchester Whit Walks I learned that I would have to attend the local Methodist Sunday School for at least the three weeks prior to the walk. I duly went along and endured the most boring hour of my life; the second week was the same and so with reluctance I gave up the idea of joining in the Whit Walk. However, the experience came in very handy when, many years later, I became a Sunday School teacher myself and tried very hard to ensure that the children were never bored. I taught Sunday School for 27 years and am still in touch with many of the youngsters who came to my classes.

BBbevan Mon 25-Sep-17 18:35:24

Thank you annsixty I always remember the actions, and to Deep and Wide ?