Bright Parish Church to mark Sunday School anniversary

Bright Parish Church to mark Sunday School anniversary

4 September 2024

A LOCAL church is marking a huge milestone this weekend.

Almost 240 years ago, the first Church of Ireland Sunday School in Ulster opened its doors in Bright, near Downpatrick.

To mark the occasion, Bright Parish Church is marking the event with a service on Sunday, which will be followed by a barbecue.

Parishioners will be joined by representatives from every church in the Down and Dromore diocese.

The Sunday school’s beginnings date back to 1782, when the Rev Dr Thomas Kennedy Bailie of Downpatrick was a curate at Bright.

While riding to church on Sunday mornings, he passed through several little hamlets, where he would see children playing .

He they might be better served doing something more useful and decided to bring them to church.

For the next two years he encouraged his congregation “to send their children to be catechised every Sunday morning”.

As more children came to church he directed the children to bring their Bibles and prayer books so that they could better learn their prayers and lessons for the day.

Finally, on May 7, 1786, the Sunday school was opened and children from all denominations were made welcome.

The school started with around 40 children, but within three months there were 363 children attending each week.

For many of the children it was the only schooling they would know.

When daily schooling became more prevalent in the early 19th century, many schools grew out of Sunday Schools and the buildings they used.

After recovering from ill health, Rev Kennedy Bailie left Bright to become rector at Killmore where he quickly established what would be Ulster’s third Sunday School behind Rathgael Sunday School in Bangor, which was founded in 1788.

Bright Sunday School continues thrive with a current core group of 12-15 children attending each week and is always keen to invite more children to participate in their Sunday teachings.