the early days

‘A church will be starting soon in your area’. These were the words said to my father by the Circuit Superintendent Minister after morning service at Worcester Park Methodist Church in 1936. He had known us in our previous church at Finsbury Park from where we had moved a few months earlier. My parents, two sisters and I were very happy at Worcester Park, but it was a long way to walk four times each Sunday, so news of a nearer church was very welcome!

Eventually the Sunday evening arrived when about 40 of us met for our first service in Newbury Gardens School and a few weeks later a special service was held in which most of us became members of Stoneleigh Methodist Church. There was a wonderful atmosphere of expectancy and fellowship and, although we were relative strangers to the area and to each other, there was quickly a strong bond between us as we sought God’s will and were assured by His presence and strength.

We also met during the week and on Bank Holidays for fellowship, and looked forward to the time when we would have our own premises, so the laying of the Foundation Stone for the Church was an important milestone and memorable occasion. The ceremony, very well supported by the local people, was held in the forecourt of the present Church, and many of us laid bricks ‘To the Glory of God’. The date was 2nd October 1937.

During the following months we eagerly watched as the church took shape, and eventually the great opening day arrived. The Church was filled to capacity and my most vivid memory of that day was the sight of little toddlers carrying down the aisle of the church brightly painted chairs with their names printed on the back.

The opening of the Church and its adjoining rooms meant that we could meet on Sunday mornings as well as evenings and that the Sunday School which met in the afternoon, could be graded into departments. My sisters and I taught in the Primary where there were about 30 children and is it any wonder that I have happy memories of those days when I had such children as Pat Rock in my first class? The numbers increased in all departments, for these were days before many families had cars and television, and diversions on Sundays were few!

As time passed the premises could not hold all the children so the Sunday School time was changed to 2:30pm to 3:30pm for those under the age of 11, ad 3:30pm to 4:30pm for 11 and over. A highlight in the Sunday School year was the crowning of its May Queen elected by the scholars in the Senior Department. This was a real family occasion, for the youngest to the eldest were involved, and often the uniformed organisations joined in as well in a most colourful and joyous event, ably produced for many years by Jim Garwood. I remember Rita Russell was the lovely and serene May Queen in the year I helped to produce the Festival, and she is still as serene as ever!

Olive Civil