The beginning of the 20th Century continued the religious fervour of the previous century, not so much in the building work, but more in social activity.  Tonbridge had many religious temperance societies in the early years of the 20th Century.  They had to be competitive to attract members away from the social gatherings that met in the pubs and hotels.  One way of tempting people in was to offer secular entertainments alongside religious teaching.

Sunday Schools brought in the young, and hopefully future, members of the adult religious and temperance societies.  They were well catered for with outings, parties, teas and treats.  Prizes were given out at the annual Christmas treat for children of both the Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul and St. Saviour's.  Swings and sweet stalls were erected for 300 children in Baltic Road by Wesleyan Sunday School.  The children were served tea at 4 o'clock.

Sunday Schools had had similar days out in the 19th Century.  For example, in July 1866 the Congregational Church Bicentenary Booklet recorded: "A procession of Sunday Schools, including Cage Green, walked in orderly procession to Lambert's, Barden Park, where after two hours pastime, 351 sat down to refreshments.  The day was singularly fine.  The children conducted themselves with decorous cheerfulness and hilarity and not a single painful or unpleasant circumstance is said to have occurred at the fête."

During the early 20th Century, children and young people's activities were popular and well organised.  Sport was an important means of keeping youths away from pubs and encouraging them to be non-drinkers.  Boys' Brigade and Church Lads' Brigade had regular Church Parades and sports facilities.  The Boys' Brigade had a small team of harriers.  The Church Lads' Brigade played many football matches.

In addition, there were outings, refreshments and social gatherings for adults.  Visits such as that to Dover by St. Saviour's Church Choir and St. Eanswythe's Bible Class's outing to Barden Park with strawberry teas and a trip down the river, were typical of events laid on by the churches.

Sports facilities offered included a cricket club from St. Stephen's Church.  Christ Church in Lansdowne Road had its own football team which was part of Division 2 in the Tonbridge and District League.  The Young Men's Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.) offered a wide variety of leisure pursuits including chess, boating, cricket, football and swimming clubs.

Although the aim of the religious and temperance societies in using leisure was as a major weapon to combat drinking, it was in fact of mutual benefit to the community and themselves.  It helped the societies to increase their numbers and to spread their message as well as the members of the community who got the leisure facilities they needed.

The churches of Tonbridge and Hildenborough continue to organise many social events to this day as these are seen as an important way for church members to get to know each other better outside the confines of a church.  Additionally, these give the opportunity for people who might not normally go to church and the families of churchgoers to be included in the church's activities.  Many churches have a yearly weekend-away and organise day trips during the summer.

Although there was less activity in church building during the first half of the 20th Century, there were new mission halls opening up.  In 1912 the Mission Church opened in Douglas Road.  The Gospel Hall opened in Avebury Avenue in 1934.

By 1934, there was a total of nineteen Christian places of worship in Tonbridge and Hildenborough.  The population of the town at that time was around 17,000.

	Anglican churches: St. Peter and St. Paul, Church Lane St. Saviour's, Dry Hill Park Road St. Stephen's, Quarry Hill Road St. John's, Hildenborough Mission Church, Hayesden (plant of St. Stephen's) Mission Hall, Priory Road (plant of St. Stephen's) Fish Hall Mission, Hadlow Road St. Eanswythe's Mission Hall, Priory Road Baptist churches: Baptist Church, High Street Zion (Strict) Baptist, Pembury Road Roman Catholic churches: Corpus Christi, Lyons Crescent		Independent churches: Douglas Road Mission Ebenezer Chapel, Bradford Street Congregational Chapel, High Street Methodist churches: Methodist Church, East Street Other churches: Salvation Army Citadel, Lyons Crescent Cage Green Mission Room, Shipbourne Road Gospel Hall, Avebury Avenue Slade Mission Hall, Stafford Street

Church building continued during the 1950's through to the end of the 20th Century.  Some of this new building work was brought about through damage which was caused by the floods of 1968.  However, in some cases it was to increase the space for the growing congregations.

The floods of 1968 caused considerable damage to the buildings in the High Street, not least to two of the town's oldest churches.  Christ Church was completely rebuilt on the same site as a result of the damage to the old building by floodwater.  The Baptist church in the High Street was another victim of the floods, and was pulled down as a result (see right - photograph © Courier Newspapers).  A larger, new church was built in the Longmead area of north Tonbridge to replace it.

In 1956, a new church hall was erected at Cage Green.  In 1970, a new and larger church was built on the same site.  The Cage Green Church became St. Philip's and plans are now in place for a new church building on the same site in the near future.

The Methodist church in East Street closed and transferred services to their greatly enlarged church in Higham Lane in 1965.

Other building work continued among the church denominations to improve the facilities for the local community.  A major building project was undertaken at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in 1983, creating meeting rooms, lunch facilities and an administrative centre.  Corpus Christi rebuilt their hall (Fisher Hall) in Lyons Crescent.  The building work at St. Saviour's included the addition of a children's room, toilets and a kitchen.

This was also a time when churches began to reach out more into the community.  Schools and other buildings were, and still are, being opened up as community churches to serve their local areas.  The first of these were The Beacon, which was opened by St. Stephen's and The Brent, which was opened by St. Philip's as a local church plant in the Longmead area.  More recently, Stocks Green Church was opened by St. John's, Hildenborough to serve the south of the village and St. Andrew's transferred its monthly family services to Woodlands School.

To serve the young people of the town the Ember Trust was founded by members of local churches and registered as a charity in 1994.  As part of the Trust's activities, it rents a disused pub, now renamed 'Switches' (see above left), which is operated as a "drop-in" café and information centre for teenagers.  Several youth groups also meet there regularly in the evenings and weekends.

The most recent church to be founded in the town was Church on the Way in 1998; a new independent church which began meeting in Delarue Hall, Shipbourne Road.  This church plans to move to a new church centre building in the town centre in the near future, which it hopes will be widely used by the local community.

In 1959, Tonbridge had its first Bishop, Canon Russell B. White, who had previously been Vicar of Tonbridge.  He was consecrated as Bishop of Tonbridge at Westminster Abbey on January 6th, 1959.

At present, Tonbridge has fifteen places of Christian worship, serving a population of around 36,000 and Hildenborough has two, serving a population of approximately 5,000:

	St. Peter and St. Paul		High Street
	St. Philip's		Cage Green
	St. Andrew's		Hadlow Road
	Woodlands School		Hunt Road
	St. Saviour's		Dry Hill Park Road
	St. Stephen's		Quarry Hill Road
	Christ Church		High Street
	Methodist Church		Higham Lane
	Baptist Church		Darenth Avenue
	Zion Strict Baptist		Pembury Road
	Corpus Christi		Lyons Crescent
	St. Eanswythe's Mission		Priory Road
	Church on the Way		Shipbourne Road
	Pentecostal Church		Shipbourne Road
	Evangelical Free Church		Douglas Road
	St. John's		Tonbridge Road, Hildenborough
	Stocks Green Church		Stocks Green School, Hildenborough

This is the last of four articles giving an overview of the development of Christianity and churches in Tonbridge so far.  The previous section covered a major period of church-building in Tonbridge during 1865-1900.

For some thoughts on the future, as well as a look at some of the churches' plans for the next few years, read Looking to the Future.