Mildred Dobberstein's Sunday School class in 1954.

In April 1875, the Reverend Mr. William Bell, a missionary of the American Sunday School Union, helped organize a Sunday school west of Alcester.

The first meetings were held in an abandoned claim shanty about two miles west of Alcester. This organization was first named the Brule Union Sunday School, and later was called Antioch. After the church was moved into Alcester it was known as the Congregational Sunday School.

According to available records, this Sunday School appears to have continued without interruption until the present time.

During the 1940’s a summer vacation church school was begun which added many hours of religious instruction for local children. This week-long summer event has been held for many years.

For the past several years the Alcester United Church of Christ has held their vacation bible school in conjunction with the Alcester Nathanael Lutheran Church vacation bible school.

In 1970 there appeared to be several advantages to changing the Sunday School meeting time from Sunday morning to Wednesday afternoons after school. Most school districts throughout the state began considering Wednesday as "church day" and planned no school activities for Wednesday evenings. Later on in the 1980’s, Sunday School was changed back to Sunday mornings.

Sunday School is held either prior to or just after morning worship service, depending on what time the church service is held. This is also a time for the Children’s and Youth Choirs to have a practice time as they each sing every third Sunday during the Sunday school session, which roughly coincides with the school year.

In December the Pre-School through Eighth grade Sunday School classes present a musical for their Christmas program. The program takes a lot of extra hours of study and practice for the students to learn all of their lines and songs for the performance.

It is not just the younger students who stay involved in Sunday School and related worship and activities. In the later 1990’s a Middle High Youth Group and Senior Youth Group was formed. Both youth groups have leaders to work with them and they meet on a monthly basis. The groups are very involved with fun activities throughout the year, including holding some church services, hay rides, picnics, suppers, serving some Sunday brunches, talent shows, and several other activities.

The 127-year history of the church school and the many, many teachers and helpers have contributed a great deal to the religious growth of both the individuals and our church as a whole.