cards made by the Sunday School. Along with family services at festivals

such as Easter and Harvest Thanksgiving, such events have an all important

part to play in integrating the children in the Christian community through

the life of their own congregation.

‘The great lack, which we feel very seriously, is the want of continuing

Christian education (other than that in day school which at secondary level

is patchy at the best). Some of the older children become helpers and as

such they are very useful; their own knowledge increases in studying what

they are to do with the children, but this practice is only a partial solution.

Several attempts have been made, the most successful and long-lived perhaps

being Mrs. Kay Ross’s Sunday evening group. Classes for intending com-

municants are, of course, conducted by the minister, but all too few come

forward for them, and the prevailing ignorance about the Christian faith

amongst young adults cannot give room for complacency in spite of a vigorous

and happy Sunday School.

Mr. John Duncan’s recollections of the Sunday School in the 1890s are of

interest especially as a contrast to Mrs. Smart’s more recent account. Mr.

Duncan writes:

‘The Sunday School was always held just after the morning service and

many of the children came from a long distance. Of course they were used

to that as they came to the day school during the week.

‘Quite a number attended the church service with their parents, before

the Sunday School.

‘The minister was always in charge and when I was at Sunday School

there were about eight or nine classes, the minister taking the only mixed

class of senior boys and girls. Apart from him there was usually one other

male teacher.

‘Here again we always had home work as there was a catechism to learn,

also a verse or two from a hymn andoneortwoversesfromtheBible. These

had to be repeated in class and when all the classes were collected at the

end the minister again called on any scholar to stand up and repeat the verses.

He then gave a short talk.

‘We had summer holidays at the same time as the day school so that for

seven weeks the Sunday School was entirely closed and we had two special

events in the year —— one at the close of the school and one at the New Year.

‘The Sunday School closed each year with a trip on the Saturday and a

flower service on the Sunday. The trip was the special event in the village for

53