As John Stead and his bride Susan walked happily down the aisle at Peter Lee Memorial Methodist Church almost half a century ago, they were making history.

For the couple were the first to tie the knot in the newly-built church, which this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

"Official regulations meant that no-one could get married there until a year after it opened, so we booked our wedding for February 14, 1959," recalls Susan.

"We had a wonderful day and got presented with a lovely bible for being the first couple to marry there, which we have kept to this day."

Peterlee was only a fledgling community when John and Susan tied the knot, having officially been created in 1948 as a New Town.

Designed to offer a modern alternative to cramped colliery housing, it was named in honour of mining leader and Methodist preacher Peter Lee, as was the church.

"It was my local church and I wanted to get married there," said Susan, who now lives near Oxford. "We had our reception in the church hall, which was really nice too."

A week of celebrations is now being planned to mark the Golden Jubilee, starting on May 18, and the Steads will be returning to Peterlee to take part.

Susan, 70, has even donated her ballerina-style wedding dress for a church fashion parade, and they will be taking part in a Celebration of Marriage event on May 22 too.

"We are really looking forward to the Golden Jubilee celebrations," she said. "It is a lovely church and I have many happy memories of my time there."

Although plans for Peter Lee Memorial Methodist Church were drawn up before the first house in Peterlee was even started, it proved a struggle to turn the dream into reality.

Almost 10 years of hard work and fundraising followed, with local Methodists collecting more than £1,400 through a Gift Day and charity events towards the costs.

Finally, after donations of £37,500 from the Joseph Rank Benevolent Trust and £7,100 from the General Chapel Committee, building work began in 1957.

"There is no doubt that Peter Lee was a giant among men," said Reverend John Crawford, chairman of the Sunderland and Durham Methodist District, back in 1957.

"It is therefore singularly appropriate that one of the shrines of religion in the town which bears his name should be one where the Methodism he loved is established.

"Had it not been for Methodism, the town would not have been called Peterlee. It would have borne some other name, for Peter Lee, the man, was made by Methodism."

While plans for the new church were still only a dream, Methodism managed to flourish as soon as people started moving to the new Peterlee.

The first official move was the launch of a Sunday School in December 1952, with youngsters visiting the homes of William Whitehouse and Joseph Minhinnett for bible lessons.

Services for adults came next, thanks to Peterlee Development Corporation, after the Yoden Road Common Room was opened up for weekly worship sessions.

And, by 1954, a second Methodist society was in operation too, which met in the salubrious surroundings of a workmen's hut in Thorntree Gill.

Reverend Leonard Brown, the supintendent minister, said at the time: "New towns do not, for themselves, create new people; only the Grace of God can do that.

"Nor is it easy to create sound traditions of Church life where no tradition had before existed. Nevertheless, the life of the church is growing steadily."

All the hard work eventually paid off on January 18, 1958, when Peter Lee Memorial Methodist Church was opened – the first official memorial to the man who gave the town its name.

But it was to be another year before the first marriage could be held, with John and Susan Stead being the lucky couple to make history.

"We didn't deliberately put our marriage on hold just to be the first, it just worked out that way," said Susan. "But it did make the day even more special."

The early days of Peter Lee Methodist Church saw more than 200 children enrolled in the Sunday School and 137 adults regularly attending services.

"The church in 1958 catered for all sorts and condition of people," a brochure published to celebrate the Silver Jubilee in 1983 reveals.

"There was a Children's Cinema Club, a Girls' Life Brigade, a Teenagers' Tea Club, a Youth Club, Young Mothers' Club, a Women's Meeting and the Regnal League.

"The social life of the church was clearly active, but so was the spiritual life. Before the Sunday services a Prayer Meeting was held, and the church felt alive."

The first few years of the church were a time of great hope. As the town around the church rapidly expanded, so did the number of worshippers attending services.

Indeed, membership grew so quickly that, in 1959, Sister Margaret Horn was appointed as Deaconess, to help out Rev Brown with the ever-increasing workload.

And the following year, 1960, saw the Queen give her blessing to the church too, when she visited the town during an official tour of the area.

Membership had reached well over 300 by the early 1960s, with many worshippers becoming involved in the League of the Good Samaritan, to help those in local need.

But the later part of the decade found numbers in decline, a situation common to churches across the country at the time, and the 1983 brochure states:

"The days of finding difficulty in getting a seat at Sunday morning service went, though Church life continued and worship for the faithful went on."

Attempts to encourage people to come back, including family social nights, a discussion group and bible study sessions, fell by the wayside due to lack of support.

An aging congregation also gave cause for concern and money was tight too, with constant appeals being held to simply to keep the building going.

But, despite some gloomy times, the future for Peter Lee Methodist Church is today a lot brighter and a band of 100 dedicated worshippers help to keep it thriving.

The current minister, Reverend Stephen Heath, said: "Our numbers seem to have gone up in recent times, so we are bucking the trend in a minor way.

"This is a church full of very welcoming, very committed people, who give a lot of their time to helping to keep the church running smoothly."

Blood donor sessions, meetings of local groups and a Pie and Pea lunch each Thursday all keep the church at the centre of community life these days.

And the recent introduction of a Sunday evening Café Church, when tea and coffee is served during an informal worship session, is proving extremely popular too.

"The church just couldn't function without the commitment of a lot of gifted and willing people and that is what has sustained it for the last 50 years," said Rev Heath.

Read more in today's Echo