Regular Sunday service takes place at 10:45am every Sunday, a warm welcome is extended to all. A BRIEF HISTORY OF HALL BOWER UNDENOMINATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL
IN THE BEGINNING
In 1814 Europe was at war. The road from Moscow was strewn with Frenchmen's bones, the smoke and the smell of gun powder had scarcely blown away from Leipzig and the nations were maneuvering their armies for the final showdow
n at Waterloo. The struggle, which had started in the name of liberty, equality and fraternity and which been going on for a quarter of a century, was at last drawing to a close and the might of France was almost at an end. But, if Napoleon's star was setting in the South, another one of a more constructive nature and enduring quality was in its ascendancy in the north over the grey towns and bleak hills of Yorkshire. A group of farmers and other people who lived in the Castle Hill area were returning to their homes after a trip to the market in Huddersfield. As they trudged up the hillside their attention was drawn to the wild, rough youths who lived round about. The nearest Sunday Schools were at Almondbury and Lockwood and so the farmers decided to do something practical for the young people of their own district by building a school at Hall Bower, not just a Sunday School but one which would be open every day of the week. The money to do so was raised by public subscription but there were few wealthy people about and those who could not afford to give money gave of their time and labour until at last the building was erected. It measured 14 yards by 6 yards and was of two storeys, the top storey being the school itself and the bottom one being the dwellingrooms of the schoolmaster. What quietness must have descended on Hall Bower when the school was opened! The children were taught the basic subjects, reading, writing and arithmetic, seven days a week and they received religious instruction in addition on Sundays which would make Sunday the busiest day of all. The School was governed by a committee which was made up of two thirds Sunday School teachers and one third subscribers. The work thrived. In 1823 Hall Bower became affiliated to the Huddersfield Sunday School Union. There was a memorable occasion the following Whit Monday 1824 when our scholars marched in procession to join others for a morning Service at High Street Chapel. When they returned home they were rewarded with buns and 'home brewed.' We are not told exactly what was 'home brewed' but the fact that there was a minute in the books the same year which provided "that two bottles of porter be purchased for the purpose of giving the preacher a glass" shows that there was no rooted objection to alcohol at the school in those days. One wonders whether the preacher received his glass before or after the sermon! In 1824 a library was founded. It was at first intended to the teachers only but in time the scholars were allowed to use it as well. The entrance fee was sixpence and members paid a penny every six weeks thereafter. The library remained in existence for about a century and by 1914 it contained 280 books. As the plaque inside the Chapel today tells us, the building was erected "for the benefit of youth's instruction" and from the very beginning the teachers were concerned about finding the most suitable methods of communicating the gospel to the scholars. The teachers were required to attend every third Sunday and, if they were absent for two consecutive duty days without good reason or without finding a substitute, they were crossed off the books. They did their best to prevent the scholars from profaning the Sabbath" but unfortunately did not receive a great deal of support and encouragement from the parents. What sort of people lived around Huddersfield when the Chapel was first founded at Hall Bower? It was popularly believed in London in the first half of the 19th century that the inhabitants of the north were half savage and the belief was not without foundation. The industrial revolution had resulted in the growth of many factories and mill towns and the population had drifted from the countryside to live in squalid, disease-ridden slums and to work endlessly in noisy, dangerous, overcrowded mills. In the year that our school was built child labour was the accepted thing both in mills and mines, the immediate effects on the child being fatigue and pain and the long term effects being the deterioration of the physical constitution, deformity, disease and deficient mental and moral wellbeing. Indeed it was only seven years before that it had become illegal for British subjects to take part in the slave trade. It was not until 1833 that the employment of children under 9 years of age was forbidden and hours of work for others were restricted. County dwellers lived in more healthy surroundings but, like the town dwellers, those who were poor were desperately so and starved if they harvest failed. The only cheap commodity was alcohol and this merely added to the misery of the poor. However that is only one side of the picture. In addition to the industrial revolution there had been a revolution in thought. The preaching of the Wesleys had led to a great revival of religion and people were grimly determined to put right the social evils of their day. His was the breeze which filled our founders' sails and to which we owe the existence of the Chapel. These were the men who abolished slavery, who drew up the Factory Acts, who covered the country with a railway network and who firmly believed that God made the world in the year 4004BC. So the work progressed. In 1833 the school had 177 scholars, 83 female and 94 male, and this record was maintained until 1856. A fee of 2½d or 3d a week was paid by each scholar to the schoolmaster (one of whom was known to sell tea and oat bread in addition to teaching) and money was also raised by the other usual methods including bazaars. There is a record of one held as long ago the 1850's when a prominent feature was a stuffed white swan. By that time the Sunday School had become so cramped for room that it became necessary to enlarge the premises. In 1856, the year that the Crimean War ended, an extra 6 yards was added to the north west gable end making the overall length now 20 yards. The debt incurred by doing so was quickly cleared off. Up to this time the Chapel Committee had been only "tenants at will" to the Ramsden estate, but in 1859 the agreement was put on a more formal footing when a lease for 99 years was obtained at a nominal rent of half a crown a year. The School remained unaltered until 1879 and we are very fortunate in possessing a photograph of it which was taken sometime between 1856 and 1879. It is not unlike the present building except that it was smaller, had smaller windows and had a porch extended out over the front entrance. The photograph has many interesting features. It appears to have been taken from the Round House (once a reservoir) and the familiar solid reservoir wall is in the foreground. Inside the wall are little shrubs which seem to have just been planted. Across the road is the Chapel with the sun shining on the High Lane side showing that the picture was taken in the afternoon. The chapel yard was considerably larger than it is today and the yard wall was ridged with a row of triangular stones. This type of stone can now be found on top of the wall which separates the drive up to the Chapel gates from the field and it seems likely that this wall is in fact the one which originally formed the south eastern boundary of the yard. There are 21 people in the yard, five children among them, and a boy is standing on the wall outside the schoolmaster's dwellingrooms. The women are dressed in black gowns which sweep down to the ground and the men have either shiny toppers or bowler hats with the exception of one gay spark in a boater. In front of the dwellingrooms is a large cherry tree which reaches up almost to the eaves. It is curious to note that there is a coal shute hole in the yard wall in exactly the same place as the present one and over the porch on the outside of the building is fixed the plaque which is now on the inside north east wall of the present building. The lighter coloured stones of the extension show clearly against the older building and the porch also seems to be lighter showing that this too may have been added at a later date. In the background of the picture on the left can been seen Bumroyd House, the site, along with Stirley Hill, of many happy tennis and garden parties in more modern times. Such are the facts we can glean from the earliest piece of documentary evidence in existence at present about the Chapel and such was the Chapel which was destroyed in 1879. THE NEW BUILDING
Of course it was destroyed for the best possible reason, to build a bigger and better one. The present schoolroom was over-crowded and the Sunday School teachers realized that their work could be carried out much more efficiently if the older scholars had separate classrooms. The rebuilding was to cost £1000 but the committee already had over £200 in the bank and this was raised to £633.9s. 6d. by subscriptions and a gift of £100 was promised when the cash in hand reached £800. So, with a debt of only 20% the new school was built. It was a loftier building than the old one, measuring 20 yards by 10 yards. There is a tradition that a box containing coins of every denomination of one particular year is somewhere built into the stonework of the Chapel and assuming that the old building was completely demolished, the treasure would be hidden away in 1879. The new building was opened by a doctor from Salendine Nook on Boxing Day 1879 which was Friday and an all-out effort was made to clear off the debt, an object which was achieved within five years. One of the events held to do this was another bazaar and the organizers received assistance on that occasion from the choir of the Primrose Hill United Methodist Church which turned up in force for the opening ceremony. In 1883 a Band of Hope was started but this had faded away some time before the centenary. A more successful venture was the formation in 1885 of a penny savings bank which remained in existence for 25 years. A great step forward was made in the musical life of the Chapel in 1889. The only musical instrument originally available was bass with which the members had to be content until a harmonium was purchased in 1863. (The bass was then sold for 7/6d). However, in November 1889 a fund was started to purchase a pipe organ and the second oldest group of documents in our possession contains the specification, the form of agreement and other correspondence from James Connacher and Sons, Organ Builders, relating to the installation of the organ in 1891 for a figure of £160. However, although Hall Bower was still moving forward, the religious life of the country as a whole was in a state of torment. The point at issue was the historical accuracy of the Bible. The story of the Creation was being seriously attacked by many eminent scientists and many people were unable to see that the authority of the Bible did not depend on a literal interpretation of Genesis. Many could not appreciate that its standing as a poetical explanation of the origin of sin could not be shaken by geology or biology. In 1859 Charles Darwen published his "The Origin of the Species" and only the most far sighted Churchmen were able to realize that "truth can never be the enemy of truth." It therefore says a great deal for the people of Hall Bower that their Chapel was able to grow in this period of lack of faith and faint-heartedness which preceded the decadent Edwardian Age, particularly in view of the fact that they relied entirely on lay preachers for their services except for rare visits from ministers of various denominations. This position regarding lay preachers remains unaltered to this day and, although the church people from Almondbury once suggested a takeover bid, the desire to avoid factional religion was so great that a protest meeting was held which squashed the idea. Nevertheless, grow it did. The Boer War passed over and Castle Hill Tower climbed into the sky to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Then in 1909 another of the famous bazaars was held and what a mammoth event it was. It was held to raise money so that the chapel premises could be extended again, for despite the fact that there had been very few signs of expansion in the district, the work was being handicapped by lack of space at the teachers' disposal. The bazaar was held at Easter and it was open for three days, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. An Opening ceremony was held on each of the days and the Chapel was decorated on a very elaborate scale. It was called a Floral Bazaar and not only were the stalls draped very effectively with art muslin, but the whole hall was a mass of paper flowers o numerous colours and varieties which were hung on the stalls and on streamers which stretched from them to the centre of the room. A tremendous amount of hard work had been put into the effort and it had its reward when the bazaar was formally opened on the Saturday afternoon for the building was crowded to the doors and the capacity of the school was severely tested. The details of all three days were fully reported in The Examiner and the total receipts for the event amounted to £241.16s.6d. It was around this time that the basis was laid by Lloyd George for the Welfare State. In 1908 an enormous amount of misery was averted by the introduction of Old Age Pensions and in 1911 the National Insurance Act was passed which provided free medical treatment and gave a limited amount of unemployment relief. It is also from 1911 that we possess detailed information of the running of the Chapel as the existing minute books of the Finance Committee date from that year. The Committee was in fact formed to manage the Chapel as from the first Sunday in July 1911. One of the earliest entries gives the scale of charges for hiring various parts of the building (with or without piano) and confirms that Hall Bower Club may have use of the chapel crockery on the last Saturday in July for a charge of 2/6d provided that they 'replace all broken ones.'
In addition to the actual financial transactions, the books contain, particularly in the earlier years, descriptions of various events which took place and how many persons were present. For example on the "24th January 1912 there was the Trust Annual Meeting. Mr. ? gave an address on the Ten Virgins (the parable) and a vote of thanks was proposed and seconded to Mr. ? for coming on such a night. There were 17 persons present, not being bad considering that it was such a bad night, it being both sloppy and a snow." Similarly on the "14th July there was a Dedication Service of the New Rails etc. Devine Service was conducted in both the afternoon and evening and they were two very good services, but the congregation was very thin. It being a hot day may account somewhat for it." Times (and excuses) have not really changed much, have they? At the time the minute books were started a special annual service was held at Christmas which was called the Re-opening Anniversary. This refers to the opening of the new building in 1879 and the services presumably commenced the following year. It was usual for the choir to sing Handel's "Messiah" at either the afternoon or evening service but this was not the only celebration at Christmas. Instead of members having private parties in their own homes it was a pleasant practice all to join together for an "At Home" at the Chapel. The gathering on Christmas Day 1913 was a particularly memorable occasion as the young people gave a cantata called "Hawthornglen." There were about 50 performers and over 250 in the audience and the performance was such a success that it was repeated by popular demand three or four weeks later. But although the members were having a happy time in the Chapel, the world situation was far from happy and a few months later, just a hundred years after the school was founded, we were once again at war. MODERN TIMES
We now enter into what may be called the Modern Era of the Chapel. At the beginning of the year there was £285. 3s. 4d. in hand and the estimated overall cost was between £700 and £850. A special "Extension Committee" was formed which organized a Centenary Bazaar to raise funds which gathered in an additional £223. 6s. 3½d. This Bazaar may not have been quite as colourful as the earlier one but it was nevertheless another of those remarkable three day occasions and was sufficiently successful to enable the rebuilding to be commenced. The foundation stones were laid on Saturday the 22nd of August 1914 and there still exists two photographs showing people crowded on and around a platform specially erected at the north west gable end of the Chapel. The effect of the extension was to add a new large room on the ground floor and a minister's vestry, a choir vestry and a smaller room between them (the latter being used in part to enable the organ to be moved back off the stage) on the floor above. It also enabled the caretaker to have an extra room and the Chapel became the building it is today. The main centenary celebrations took place on the weekend of Nov ember 28th and 29th when an Old Scholars' Gathering was held. Over 500 invitations were sent out to past scholars and friends and there was a magnificent response. The schoolroom was too crowded for comfort on the Saturday but there was a warm atmosphere in more ways than one as old friendships were renewed and memories recalled amid old and familiar surroundings. On the Saturday afternoon a tea was held followed by a very successful meeting and on the Sunday services were held in the afternoon and evening and a special point was made that old hymns should be sung. At this time the library was officially closed and the war keeps creeping into the minutes. There are a few notes of occasions on which collections were devoted to the war or to the Local Relief Fund. The new extension was completed by the end of the year and the first meeting held in the "New Assembly Room" was the Annual Trust meeting on 27th January 1915. The secretary commented in his report that "the past year had been one of great commotion what with our alterations and also the Great War that was raging." The war seems to have hindered the Chapel's financial position too for, although most of the money had already been raised before the building was commenced, it was not until the 15th of August 1921 that the outstanding debt was finally cleared off. The total cost of the extension was £931.17s. 7½d. However, life still had to go on. In the winter of 1915/16 the choir scored a success with an entertainment called Ali Ba Ba. A few months later friends from Taylor Hill brought another one called 'Eveline' and on the 27th May 1916 we have the first mention of a Chapel Ramble to Scholes. The Hall Bower Sunday School Penny Bank was wound up as from the end of 1920 but the following year a Reserve Fund was started in a building society in Huddersfield and initial deposit of £50 was made. A big step towards modernization was made in 1924 when electricity was laid on in place of the previous gas lighting and at the same time it was decided to redecorate the Chapel.
1929 saw another big occasion – the Re-opening Anniversary which was held on the 28th and 29th of December marked the 50th Anniversary of the rebuilding of the Chapel. There was a tea and meeting, special services, soloists and speakers and an organ recital and the present communion table was presented as a gift by one of the members. Between 1930 and 1938 the social activities are particularly mentioned in the minute books. There are references of rambles to Mount Tabor, Grange Moor, Scholes and Flockton, the Cricket Club still maintained contact with the Chapel and in 1936 there is the only reference to the football club, founded in the 1920's and which used to play at Castle Hill. In 1938 our own young people apparently had a craze on table tennis for the persuaded the trustees to let them use the big room for that purpose on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and on Saturday afternoons. A few months later music came to the fore again. Ever since the organ had been installed in 1891 it had been blown by hand, the work usually being taken on by boys who were paid an appropriate salary. Boys being what they are, there were frequent changes of 'official blower' and it was not unusual for the notes of the organ to fade way during a long hymn, much to the organist's chagrin. There is an amusing minute from 1921 when one boy was dismissed for failing to turn up at the services. In June 1939 however a great deal of worry and hard work were saved by the Finance Committee approving the purchase of an electrical blower. Unfortunately social and musical activities were again over-shadowed by political events. In October of that year a special committee had to be formed to see to the blackout of the Chapel windows and in the summer of 1941 the Home Guard moved into the building occupying the choir vestry and other rooms as offices and bedrooms. They remained there for several years and were kind enough to buy us a new boiler when they left. With the coming of the end of the war the accent was once again on youth. There is the first record a Children's Christmas Party on the 12th December 1947 and in September 1949 a Youth Club was formed. Socials, rambles, garden parties, choir practice, concerts and pantomimes were still the main social events of the Chapel throughout the 50's and into the 60's. In 1950 only one of the original 1911 Trustees survived and therefore a new Trust was formed, this time with 15 members including the survivor from the 1911 Trust. One of their first considerations was what to do when the 99 year lease expired in 1958. In May 1951 it was decided that the best thing to do would be to buy the land, including the caretaker's garden at a cost of £275 and throughout the following seven years various efforts were made to collect the money together. In October 1958 the final payment was passed to the solicitors and the land became the property of the Trust. During the 1950's, 60's and 70's Huddersfield Town began to change. The old Market Hall was demolished; pockets of antiquity gave way to modern functional conformity; The Picture House, the Theatre Royal, The Ritz and other familiar land marks disappeared. Trolley buses gave way to diesel and a multi-lane ring road besieged the town centre. The Clean Air Act blew away smog, and industrial change and decline demolished many of the chimneys which had caused it. However, change was less noticeable at Hall Bower. There was some infilling among the houses, the gas lamps were replaced by electric, the old Dutch Barn on Hall Bower Lane was blow down during a gale and removed, and the graceful cricket pavilion was destroyed by fire, but the exterior of the Chapel building remained unaltered since the 1914 extension. In 1958 the Young Ladies class room was partitioned off to give a separate passage to the toilets and some years later in 1972 the wall between this class room and the kitchen was removed to make a larger kitchen. To mark the 150th Anniversary in 1964 the Trustees firstly decided to upgrade the somewhat gloomy lighting system comprising of 6 solitary light bulbs to 6 chandelier type fittings each with 5 bulbs. The pulpit was also lighted by two spotlights and the lights above the choir were replaced by fluorescent strips. The second item planned to mark this Anniversary was the er****on of a partition at the back of the hall to cut off the porch and back stairway. This increased the cosiness of the Chapel and cut out the draught from the main door. And thirdly the Chapel was redecorated both inside and out. Celebratory events were conducted throughout the year and included a Church Weekend with meetings, speakers and the usual high teas; special Anniversary Services in June; a Flower Service; Choir Trip to Whitby, Garden Party; A Ter-Jubilee Sale of Work and the usual Harvest Festival and Carol Services. In 1965 the Chapel was licensed for marriages for the first time. However, there is no marriage register held by the Chapel. At each wedding a visiting Registrar from the Huddersfield Registry Office has to be present and the practice is simply to make the entry in whichever book the Registrar happens to be using at the time. Other records from this period ceased to be kept in their previous detailed manner. Following reorganization in 1972 Sunday School business was handled along with all other Chapel affairs by the Church Meeting and sadly the minutes of these meetings and attendance records ceased in 1972. Decisions appear to have been made on an informal basis at the meetings. Whilst the Sunday School was well staffed and supported during the 1950's and early 60's, once again reaching pre-war numbers on occasions, the steady religious decline throughout the land also affected the attendance at Hall Bower. Increased travel and leisure, wider opportunities for education and careers, greater material comfort and the advent of Television have all played their part in the decline of church attendance and church social activities. In 1982 because of falling numbers, and in line with many other churches, the evening service was abandoned and switched to an adult service in the morning with the children attending for the first 15 minutes before going out to Sunday School. This arrangement continues to this day. Practical ecumenism has always existed at Hall Bower. People of all denominations are welcome to worship. It has been a two-way traffic, for many who grew up at Hall Bower went on to serve in other Churches in later life. The Chapel community has seen itself as part of the wider circle of Huddersfield Christians and has welcomed visiting Ministers and preachers of many denominations. In fact the Chapel owes an enormous debt to these many people. Although a small amount of money is usually offered to our preachers the payment is not commensurate to the value of the service given, but just some help towards expenses. We are immensely grateful to all those who throughout the years have given us such valuable and commendable service, many over long periods of time. A Finance Committee minute dated 17th November 1987 explained why there are no official church minutes for the previous seven years. Apparently in recent years it had been impossible to hold Finance meetings owing to lack of support. All major decisions therefore were made by the three active, local Trustees, all three of whom were regular worshippers. During this time the caretaker's flat became empty owing to the deaths of the long term caretakers and due to lack of finance the Trustees were unable to renovate the flat the standards demanded by the Health and Housing Department. During 1987 two of the most active and loyal Trustees died suddenly, one of them having been the regular organist for many years, and in January of 1988 there was talk of closing the Chapel permanently. A rapidly organized open meeting was called at the end of the month, to which 29 people turned up. Most felt strongly that everything possible should be done to remain open and to continue the work done by those who had gone before. From this and a subsequent meeting, a new Trust was formed with 16 members, most of whom still serve the Trust to this day. Several people also offered their services as organists on an ad hoc basis and that situation still applies. We feel very fortunate and grateful to all the people who have helped out with the music over the last 20 years or so. There is only the occasional Sunday when we have to rely on the recently installed music system. Since 1987 the new Trust has organized several major fund raising events and has managed to completely renovate the old caretaker's flat which is now let and brings in a much needed income. They have also overseen the renewal of the heating system, with new modern, very efficient radiators instead of the old 6" water pipe system previously used; fitted new pvc windows throughout; replaced the old kitchen with new units, fridge, freezer and cooker and new flooring; modernized the toilets for disabled use; had fire doors and necessary alarm systems and emergency lighting fitted; carpeted all rooms and staircases; decorated throughout; refurbished the Chapel and stage floors and re-panelled the walls in the Chapel. The organ has also had extensive work carried out to it, including a complete overhaul. Other major work has included re-roofing the building; the underpinning of the walls of the 1914 extension as they were pulling away from the main building due to two consecutive very hot, dry summers when the moisture under the building dried out to such an extent the ground began to sink; new tarmac in the yard, some garden walls renewed and a new pebbled pathway behind the building. The breaking away of the 1914 extension also caused extra plastering and decorating work to be carried out once the underpinning was finished. INTO THE 21st CENTURY
Huddersfield and its neighbourhood is a graveyard of chapels and churches. Buildings which once vibrated with religious fervour and which gave spiritual stability to thousands of Christian lives have either disappeared or have been converted into houses or factories or facilities for non-Christian religions. Readers might therefore be wondering how Hall Bower Sunday School has managed not only to survive but to do so with cheerfulness and hope. The reasons are both spiritual and practical. On the spiritual side we hope that what has been taught and done over the years in the name of Hall Bower Sunday School is recognised as being generally Bible-based and in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Chapel's ethos is not oppressively evangelical and certainly not fundamentalist, but hopefully has always been kindly and sensitive, reasonable and loyal to the Christian faith. There are several reasons for survival on the practical side. One such is the determined loyalty and generosity of those associated with the Chapel in various ways. For example, the cost of underpinning the building a few years ago was an immense worry, but the £20,000 needed was eventually found. Then there is the fortunate fact that many very useful skills exist among the Chapel Folk. These make it possible to face up to problems and to risk experimenting with new ideas. A third aspect which should not be belittled is that of finance, the Chapel benefitting both from the income from the flat and the savings from not having paid clergy. 'Independence' is a fourth reason for survival. Though it means that the Trustees are entirely responsible in times of crisis, it also means that no outside body can close the Chapel as an 'economy measure' or for any other reason. Then, fifthly, come imagination and enthusiasm which enable many forms of outreach into the community. The Chapel communicates with the world outside its walls in various ways – a lively notice board, regular notices in the local Newspaper, the issue of a free substantial annual Newsletter to over 500 homes nearby and far away, and the publication of a number of books. The first two books were histories of the Chapel itself, The First 150 Years in 1964 and a much fuller Chapel Folk for the 175th Anniversary in 1989. Then came two local history books to which many people contributed and which are full of pictures, The Hall Bower Book of Memories written to celebrate the Millennium in 2000, followed in 2003 by Our Small Corner. Then in 2005 the Trustees kindly gave their name as publishers to a small book on Christian theology in a scientific age, Are We Nearly There? written by one of their number. This last book sold out and is currently out of print, but copies of the other four are still available from the Chapel. Imagination and enthusiasm spill over into other forms of expression as well. The Chapel Rambling Club goes out on the hills twice a month on Monday mornings. The Almondbury Ladies' Choir practises here on Monday evenings and occasionally takes part in musical events at Chapel. The Art Club meets alternate weeks on Tuesday mornings, offset on other Tuesdays by the Craft Club and by the Tuesday History Talks on the political and social background to Christian history. The Flower-Arranging Club meets alternate Wednesday afternoons, and the monthly Coffee Morning is filled with friends and neighbours on the first Wednesday morning of each month. The Social Calendar continues to be filled with one-off events – a Scottish Supper, a Medieval Banquet, a Victorian Dinner, a Chocolate Evening, an 'Art & Flowers' Four-day Exhibition, and various concerts and entertainment. The Christian Calendar is also occupied when old friends turn up is considerable members to celebrate special festivals with the local congregation. Of greatest importance is the weekly Sunday morning service, the backbone of this Christian community. And that is how we stand today. We head into the future, not with false confidence, but with reasoned hope and optimism. England has changed almost beyond recognition since 1814, but the needs of our population for Christian understanding and guidance are greater than ever. The quotation from the Book of Proverbs still fires the imagination:
Train up a child in the way he should go
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
