St.John's

The Sunday School movement was very strong at St. John’s for most of the 20th century. It provided generations of children with the basics of the Christian faith. The Sunday School consisted of three divisions, senior, intermediate and kindergarten The Sunday School building, now mostly demolished catered for large classes as well as parish activities. The remaining front section has been incorporated into the present Colonial Motor Inn. While the kindergarten section had a different program from the older classes, Sunday School was generally quite strict and examinations held to measure progress. The main hall was set out with tables, under strict supervision with forms placed around. The serious nature of the lessons was offset by the annual picnics, also recalled by Mrs. Jessop; “Sunday school picnics were grand occasions. Four or five open horse drawn buses would line up in St. John Street, and all the children would go on them and away they would go, along Elphin Road cheering and yelling, on the way to the showgrounds. At the showgrounds, flags would mark the place for each class, and each child would be given a bun and a mug of ginger beer when they first arrived. Activities would continue until lunchtime, and then the Sunday School bell would ring. Children would then sit down, and boxes of sandwiches and meat pies would be brought around, with more ginger beer and a bag of lollies. Sports and other interesting activities would fill the afternoon, with the teachers entering fully into the races and other amusements. Parents would be invited to attend afternoon tea, and the children would return to the church in the horse-drawn buses. These picnics took place on Saturdays. Later, train excursions took the picnics to Rocherlea or the Mowbray racecourse; then completely out of town, and at Evandale showgrounds.”