A decisive factor in John Wesley's
"Methodism" was the importance of education for adults
and even for the children.  Thus it was that the circuit
riders' saddle bags bulged with reading material.  For the
child, Wesley believed not only in religious education,
but also in other forms of learning. As Methodists forged
into the wilderness, Christian education and learning to
read, write and figure kept pace.
The earliest Methodist Sunday School in Fulton was formed in 1816. By 1829, the class
could not meet in the basement of our then-unfinished church.  Our church's oldest
written chronicle is a Sunday School book from 1834.
During the Twentieth Century, the Sunday School has evolved with
the church and American society. Having begun with 8 a.m.
meetings, the hour has changed several times in accord with the
worship service..  It presently meets at 11 a.m., following the
worship service.
In 1922 the minister was given the power to appoint a Boy Scout
Troop Committee and the Official Board voted unanimously to
cooperate with Fulton's Board of Education to make weekday
religious education possible.
continues today.continues today.
In 1857, our church appointed its first woman as Assistant Sunday
School Superintendent.  One year later, our Quarterly Conference
voted to seat the congregation by families in the Sunday evening
meetings rather than to continue segregating the sexes on opposite
sides of the sanctuary, as was the accepted custom for many church
services.
Well ahead of the General Conference, our church voted equal representation at the
Annual and General Conferences of 1870.  In 1871 the Woman's Foreign Missionary
Society was formed and the Woman's Home Missionary Society was organized in 1888.   
 
The Home Society concerned itself with missionary work within the continental limits of
the United States; the Foreign Society was concerned with missionary work outside the
United States.  Some of the institutions which they helped to support included:
Immigrants Home, New York City
Mitchell Home, Alabama
Jesse Lee Home, Alaska
Adaline Smith Home, Arkansas
Italian Home, Utica
Oriental Home, San Francisco
Today as a church we support the Folts Home in Herkimer, NY and Bethany Center in
Horseheads, NY.
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