London, UK - It's not just learning the words to Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, says Huw Edwards. Early pioneers rocked the boat by teaching poorer children to read, and football clubs like Everton owe their existence to the religious classes.
Mention Sunday school today and many will think of an institution that feels fusty, cosy and quaint. Some might even feel outright hostility. But others remember kindness, rich storytelling and singing - happy memories of some of the best moments of childhood.
This remarkable movement, founded in 1774 with the first class held in a house in Gloucester, has had a deeply radical effect on British society. In the early days, it was seen as dangerous and subversive to give the tools of literacy to the lower orders. In Victorian times, Sunday schools helped shape future MPs, women teachers and a large number of the current Premiership football clubs.
And well into the 20th Century, Sunday school students parading at Whitsun could turn out in their thousands, bringing city centres to a standstill.
These days Sunday school is usually a break-out activity from the main morning church service. The parents stay in for the sermon while the children and their teachers file out. But in my time - I attended Sunday school in South Wales until I was 16 - it was an afternoon session of singing, Bible study, scripture knowledge competitions, drama and so on.
It's a world remembered with huge affection by prominent figures such as Ann Widdecombe, Roy Hattersley and Patricia Routledge. Along with countless others, they bear witness to the crucial influence of Sunday school in their personal developments. Cartoonist Bill Tidy has rich memories of singing, Christmas parties and the gentle touch.
"[My boys'] school was rough, tough and manly; Sunday school was gentle, with angels drifting slowly by."
What's striking is the sense of fun and enjoyment, far removed from the grey received image. Mary Wilson, of Lancashire, remembers the annual performance of songs and recitations.
"One year, we did Children of Foreign Lands, and it was a big slip-up. I was Miss Greenland, dressed accordingly, and the hymn was different verses for different lands. And, somehow, I got shuffled round. And when it was 'from Greenland's icy mountains' Miss India walked in, and when it was 'from India's balmy shore' I clopped in. But everybody pretended not to notice."
Tools to learn
It's a far cry from the experience of early figures such as the robust Gloucester newspaperman Robert Raikes and the playwright Hannah More. Both got into trouble for teaching the poor to read. In fact, local opposition in Somerset gave More a nervous breakdown.
And during the 1790s conflict with revolutionary France, William Pitt sought to suppress these "dangerous" schools - if you could read the Bible, you could also read Tom Paine's The Rights of Man.
The movement grew rapidly and by Victorian times, the majority of working-class children attended. There was strong attendance across the spectrum of social class but the biggest impact was experienced by the less well-off. The support to literacy continued to be crucial until the development of state education.
But it was the social and leisure activities which lifted the hopes and aspirations of so many young people, especially in industrial areas.
A museum in Aberdare holds a remarkable collection of richly-decorated banners carried in public processions on key religious holidays, a statement of affiliation and pride.
Sporting activities were also central, training for body as well as the soul.
A number of Premiership clubs, and a remarkable percentage of those who set up the Football League in the 1880s, grew out of Sunday schools - names as famous as Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham. Such teams grew out of the men's sections of Sunday schools - Catholic, Methodist, Anglican - and started as a winter addition to the popularity of cricket in summer.
The social impact of the schools in Victorian times was anything but conservative and establishmentarian. Women were given a rare opportunity for public office, and they exercised major influence as teachers; the male superintendents often built a power base in the school hall and went on to become political leaders.
Donkey rides
In the 20th Century, there was a gradual but certain decline. It matched the general falling off in church attendance, the advance of state provision in education and the post-World War II explosion of leisure activity and consumerism among the young.
Nevertheless, many former pupils speak of an oasis of support, storytelling and performance activity - and outings that might otherwise be out of reach. Ann Widdecombe was an avid donkey-rider on trips to Weston-super-Mare, while Patricia Routledge loved the excursions into the country. While there may have been cases of rigid schooling and indoctrination, that does not seem to have been the general story.
"There was no fascism, or anything like that," says Bill Tidy. "No 'Kill the Jews', or the Catholics, or the Prods, or whatever - just simple interpretations of what life was about. It was nice people putting forward decent values and I thought, 'This is the kind of religion I like'."
The influence of Sunday schools has waned, but the need for decent values has not.