↑ Return to Organisations

JAM Club

When: Sundays at 11.30am

Earliest Years
In its earliest years the organisational life of our church centred on its Sunday School and Bible Class. In 1845, the session decided to inaugurate Sabbath School work and, as far as is known, it commenced immediately. In 1847 Mr. Matthew Cunningham was appointed superintendent – a position which he held for 50 years – creating a precedent for long service in this organisation. Mr. James Morrison was subsequently Sunday School Superintendent for a like number of years. When the new church building was opened in 1887, the original church building, renamed the Woodside Hall, became the meeting-place of the Sunday School which continued to meet there until 1904 when the Woodside Hall reverted to the Free Church. The need for new additional accommodation was realised immediately, but it was not until 1912 that a large hall adjoining the church was ready for use.

In the 50th anniversary booklet of the congregation, the author of the Sunday School report states that “all departments are flourishing under the able direction of a dedicated teaching staff”. Fifty years on in the centenary booklet, that statement was still valid. In the summer of 2009, after years of decreasing numbers attending the Sunday School and the retirement of the Superintendent and teaching staff, the Sunday School came to an end after 162 years. However, the Sunday School may have seen changes in venue, time, techniques and activities – but throughout its long life, the commitment of the congregation to the support and encouragement of the young people and their leaders has been total. So it proved to be again as Luisa Chisholm launched the JAM (Jesus and Me) Club in September 2009.

The JAM club meet in the Halls during the Church service, beginning at 11.30am every Sunday. Numbers are again on the increase and the age of those attending ranges from 3-14. Every month the children work on a new topic and on the last Sunday of the month they either sing in church or act out a play. The JAM Club runs from September to May and whilst they usually meet in the Church Halls, on the last Sunday of the month the JAM Club meets in the Church first. Depending on the topic the children either do arts and crafts or play games relevant to the topic. At the end of every session they go on a trip. Examples of previous trips have been to Dean Park, Heads of Ayr Farm Park, Kelburn Country Park, the cinema, ten pin bowling and the Science Centre. A number of volunteers from the congregation help Luisa and offer invaluable support to the JAM Club as it continues to grow.