Continuous tradition since 1889 (the Sunday School began 27 July 1889 with 6 teachers and 13 children — “older than the Church itself”) Leader of record (2015): Sister Claudette Witter [Current leader — to confirm]

Junior Church runs alongside the main Sunday service for HBC’s younger members. As Sister Claudette Witter put it in 2015: “The church has always had a Sunday school. In fact, the Sunday school is older than the Church.” The Sunday School first met on the afternoon of 27 July 1889 — before the church fellowship was formally constituted on 8 May 1890 — with six teachers and thirteen children. By 1900, average attendance had reached 83 in the morning and 230 in the afternoon.

Today’s Junior Church is structured in three age stages: - Juniors — ages 3 to 7 - Primary — ages 8 to 11 - Bible Class — ages 12 to 16

Under the guidance of their teachers, the children read the Bible together, learn the Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm, and are encouraged and mentored to lead the morning service themselves. This monthly leading of services has been a feature of Junior Church for over twelve years (so since at least ~2003), running from February through June and again from September through December. It builds confidence in public speaking and gives the children real ownership of their place in the worship life of HBC.

The Sunday School superintendent role itself stretches back through the long-serving figures of Mr Thomas Lockington (appointed 1901), Miss Pierce (the second woman deacon, served 1923–33), Mr Albert Satterthwaite (1953 onward, also a life deacon and the man who built much of Unity Hall), and many others.

Sources: [125th] pp. 51–52; [Centenary] pp. 6–7, 10–11; [Web History].