A CHURCH had a message for young members – don’t all come to Sunday School at once!

The request came from the newly-opened John Bunyan Church in Crowell Road, Cowley.

In the words of the famous nursery rhyme character, Old Mother Hubbard, it had so many children it didn’t know what to do.

The church had started life in a hall which opened for worship 75 years ago next month, on April 22, 1939.

The Sunday School quickly became popular and so many children wanted to attend that there was no room for them all.

They met in a tiny room nicknamed the Black Hole of Calcutta and with the number of children totalling 50, church officials hoped that “not all would turn up on any one Sunday as we should not know where to put them”.

The problem was solved when a new hall, the second phase of the building programme, was opened in June 1941.

A gift of £1,000 from Lord Nuffield, creator of the Cowley car industry, and the £881 proceeds from the sale of the St Thomas Mission Hall in St Ebbe’s went towards the cost. Other contributions helped to clear the church of debt by the end of 1941.

As well as a thriving Sunday School, other organisations connected with the church sprang up – the Girls’ Life Brigade, Young People’s Fellowship, a Christian Endeavour Society and a Women’s Meeting.

When the church celebrated its 21st anniversary in 1960, it unveiled plans for a new £20,000 building, designed by Oxford architect Peter Reynolds, to seat 320. It was completed in 1964, coinciding with its 25th anniversary.

The church had been led, almost from the start, by its long-serving minister, the Rev Sydney Crowe. He arrived at Cowley in 1943 and when he retired in 1971, there were many warm tributes to him.

Among them was one from the Oxford Mail church columnist, Layman, who wrote: “This energetic little man, who seems to have learned the secret of perennial youth, has ministered to one of the most vigorous Christian families in Oxford, during which time he found the time to play a leading part in a wide range of activities, secular as well as those connected with his sacred calling.”

In 1973, the church hall was badly damaged by fire – two boys aged 13 and 10 admitted arson – but activities soon resumed after the building was repaired.

The church, whose minister is now the Rev James Grote, will celebrate its 75th anniversary with a special service on Easter Sunday, April 20 at 10.30am and the congregation is expected to include many former members of the Youth Fellowship, who continue to hold annual reunions.

Youth Fellowship members who wish to keep in touch should contact Gilbert Payne on 01235 831522, email gillorn@btinternet.com