Methodist worshippers are marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of their church in Bethnal Green with tours of the parish and a weekend celebration in the summer.

Church volunteers are putting together a mobile home exhibition on the nature of ‘home’ to encourage schoolchildren in the East End to explore the stories of their parents and think about the life journeys they might make themselves.

Workshops “to spark creativity” around stories of the home are also being offered to Tower Hamlets schools.

The early years of Bethnal Green Methodist Church, opened in 1868, are tied in with the founding of the National Children’s Home and Orphanage, now known as Action for Children, which was set up next to the church in Bonner Road, near Victoria Park.

A celebration weekend is on the cards for June 30 and July 1. Tours of Bethnal Green are planned, both guided and audio self-guided, where congregation members and others recall historic Methodist sights going back to mid-Victorian times when London expanded eastwards.