HISTORY OF HAWKER CHURCH
The congregation that later became Hawker Church first met together in a building on Kemp Road, the site of the present Aley United Methodist Church. Three different groups shared this meetinghouse - Lutheran, United Brethren, and German Reformed congregations. The Reformed Church is one of the forerunners of the United Church of Christ, the name by which we know our denomination today.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, a dynamic Reformed minister, David Winters, came to the congregation, and the people decided to withdraw from the Aley location and build their own meeting house. They erected it in 1851 on land owned by Adam Hawker, hence the name Hawker Church. The building, on Dayton-Xenia Road, currently houses the Knollwood Church of God.
Pastor Winters served the congregation, as well as two others, until 1879. For about the next thirty years, nine ministers preached at Hawker Church. It was a period of "ups and downs," and there was even talk of closing down as bigger, more impressive churches were being built in the city of Dayton. A few faithful members stayed loyal to small country church, and it remained open.
Starting in 1911, Hawker was served primarily by students from Central Seminary in Dayton, a school for training Reformed ministers. In 1936, Hawker joined with Corinth Boulevard Church in Dayton to call an ordained minister and in 1942 hired the first full-time pastor.
During this time period, the Knollwood community was growing and WWII industry was bringing many people to Dayton and its suburbs. By late 1945, the inadequacies of the church building on Dayton-Xenia became evident - lack of inside water and plumbing, limited parking space, and little room to expand. Long range plans and fund raising began for the present building on Longview Street. A procession from the old building to the new took place on November 25, 1951, and the worship began in what is now the Narthex of this church. The sanctuary was completed in the fall of 1953. Since then, the north wing was enlarged, and in October of 1997, we dedicated our new kitchen and Fellowship Hall addition.
Throughout the years, babies have been born, people have died, and families have moved into and out of our community. The old building and the new one are part of our heritage, but Hawker Church continues to be the people who love and serve God with their time, their talents, and their treasure.