COADS Green Chapel has recently celebrated the 200th anniversary of its Sunday School.

On the last Sunday of October, the morning service was led by the Rev Keith Roberts, who was a past minister at the church. Keith’s theme for the service was ‘God past, present and future’.

All the ladies from the church were encouraged to wear their best Sunday hats, as was the tradition in years past.

They came up trumps as the congregation filled the chapel for the celebration service. The gents scrubbed up quite well too.

The chapel had been beautifully decorated for the event, each window depicting an era of a time in the history of the church.

Also on display were many wedding dresses and christening robes that had been worn in the chapel, some going back to the 1800s.

Members were also encouraged to bring along any Sunday School rewards from years past, and again, some of these dated back to the early 1900s.

Many photos were found of previous Sunday School anniversaries and trips, making some interesting and scary memories. During the afternoon, modern technology was used to show these on a loop system on the large screen.

As was tradition, a high tea was later served with silver service by the young ladies of the chapel. The tables were groaning in true Methodist fashion.

A selection of scrap books, kindly lent by a chapel member, were also on display and provoked much interest in the village hall.

After tea, visitors made their way back to the church for the evening anniversary concert, entitled ‘A Journey Through the Years’, which was led by Rev Jo Smart, ably assisted by her husband, Andi.

Again, the church was full with many Sunday School members, past and present. The concert items were supplied by young Sunday School members, Theo and Josie Hosking, Hannah Venning and the church’s own musical group, Youthful Spirit.

Throughout the evening, many old traditional hymns were sung, as well as some new ones that had been learnt in recent weeks.

Many people commented on the wonderful singing throughout both services and how they felt the power of God was present throughout the day.

The evening closed with Jo thanking everyone for their hard work in preparing the displays for the day, and also a huge thank you was proposed to Jo and Andi for being the instigators of the whole weekend.