The Sunday School has long been an integral part of the Methodist church.  Hannah Ball, a Methodist preacher, had Sunday School for children as early as 1770.  The Methodist Sunday School Union was established in 1827.  Today, more than half a million teachers, leaders and administrators are engaged in the educational ministries of our churches.  Each year approximately four hundred curriculum resources are published.

The Waterville Methodist church has a Sunday School program for all ages.  The adult class meets every Sunday morning before church services. Classes for children, preschool age to junior high, meet every Sunday during the church service.  The children all attend the first part of the service to participate in a hymn and gather for the children's brief sermon done by the Pastor.

Frequently the children participate Sunday mornings with sing-a-longs, skits and holiday pageants.  They sponsor a spaghetti dinner once a year.  Their annual float for the Christmas Parade of Lights is eagerly anticipated. 

Ten percent of the Sunday morning collections go to The Neighborhood Center in Utica, and at Christmas time, shoe boxes labeled boy/girl/infant are filled with toys and necessities for our own local needy families.

Children -- God bless them -- always honest, resilient, naive, imaginative and eager to learn -- we can always find some humor, too -- in conclusion, enjoy the following comments by children.

Nine year old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday School.  "Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely.  The he used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters for reinforcements.  They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved."--

"Now Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?" his mother asked.

"Well, no, Mom, but if I told you the way the teacher did, you'd never believe it."

The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Johnny interrupted, "My mommy looked back once, while she was driving, " he announced triumphantly, "and she turned into a telephone pole."

A Sunday School teacher asked, "Johnny, do you think Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the Ark?"  "No," replied Johnny, "how could he with just two worms."