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Our History
On the 10th day of April in 1816, Frederick Alter and his wife, Mary Ann, conveyed one acre of land to Frederick Alter, William Benson, Daniel Miller, Benjamin Benn, and John Holliday for and in consideration of the sum of $15. This first deed, which was recorded in the Hamilton County Court House on May 24, 1816 stipulates, "They shall erect and build or cause to be built thereon a house or place of worship for the use of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America."
Hannah K. Sexton was buried on August 9, 1815, on land which was a part of our church cemetery.
The Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church was one of the pioneer churches in Green Township, Ohio. It was organized in 1839 when men like Benjamin and Washington Markland, Tobias Miller, Eli Rafelty, Ormand Mann, and Jonathon Markland felt the need for a house of God in the community. Their building plans called for the building of an unhewed log church, which was constructed by the men of the community. This probably was an occasion for much good fellowship in an old fashioned "Log-Raising." Our history doesn't tell us what happened to this building, but the Reverend Mr. James L. Reiley, the first minister (1839-1844), probably saw fit to expand. Membership of the old church included the following names: Thomas Wills, postmaster of Cheviot, William Robb, Roswell Fenton, Abner Scudder, Dorcus Hildreth, Enoch Jacobs, George Dowler, Elias Crookshank, Morris J. Bibent, George Merkle, O. J. Wood, and Thomas Markland.
In 1849, the first brick church building was erected at the corner of Ebenezer Road and Cincinnati-Louisville Pike (now Bridgetown Road). This building was destroyed by a tornado in 1866. The congregation, working side by side, salvaged the bricks and used them to rebuild the church. This building was in use until 1960, and demolished in 1964 due to its unsafe deteriorated condition.
The first mention of the Ebenezer Church in the Cincinnati Conference, Cincinnati District Journals was in 1897 when we were named with Mt. Hope and Shiloh as the Miami Circuit and Reverend Timmons was appointed to his fourth year as pastor. The early Journals just did not name all the preaching points, only the Circuits.
In 1899 we were on the Groesbeck Circuit with Asbury and Dent Churches. In 1903 we were assigned to the Miami Circuit with Dent, Mt. Hope and Shiloh. From 1904-1907 we were apparently a part of the Westwood Circuit together with Groesbeck, Asbury, Miami, Mt. Hope and Dent Churches with W. F. Martin as the pastor. In 1909 we were assigned to the Westwood Circuit but with only Groesbeck and Asbury Churches (total members in these three churches as 132). From 1910-1931 we were lost from the Journals.
Our church members were instrumental in re-organizing and re-opening the Asbury Methodist Church (now the Monfort Heights United Methodist Church) which closed in 1916 and re-opened May 6, 1934. Some of our members transferred there which helped in the re-organization.
In 1932 we show up again in the Ohio Conference Journal and were joined by Shiloh with C. F. Stephenson as the pastor serving in his eighth year. In 1934 we were joined with Asbury with Jack Childress as pastor. In 1935 we were joined with Mt. Hope again with Jack Childress as pastor. In 1938 we were joined with Hooven with C. J. Bernhardt as pastor.
The Ebenezer Church became inadequate in the late thirties and the congregation took steps to replace the old brick building. During this campaign, Pastor Bernhardt stopped in to see Mr. August "Doc" Wilke, who was ill at the time. This was the first time that Mr. Wilke was visited by a member of the clergy. The visit so moved Mr. Wilke that upon his death, his wife, the late Amelia Wilke, saw fit to donate the land, build and completely furnish the church building as a memorial to her husband. Mr. Bibent, brother of Mrs. Wilke, supplied all his time and services in the supervision of construction details at no cost to the Church. Ground breaking took place on June 23, 1940 and the dedication was held on December 8, 1940.
To enable the church to get a good start, Mrs. Wilke also paid the minister's salary and current expenses for one year. During the erection of this building, the men and women of the congregation worked hard to have everything in readiness for their new spiritual home. The old bell from the old Brick Church on the corner of Ebenezer and Bridgetown Roads was transferred to the new structure.
In 1940 the Conference Journal reported a new church built for $25,000 and debt free. The report in the Journal uses the name Ebenezer Church, but in the list of appointments we were called Wilke and our official name then became Wilke Memorial Community Church and we became a station appointment, or single church charge.
On December 9, 1943, Mrs. Wilke donated the site east of the Church for a parsonage and part of the parking lot. In 1949 the present parsonage was built with much aid from the Men's Brotherhood, Women's Society for Christian Service, Youth Groups and other organizations of the church. The parsonage replaced rented quarters that were provided for the minister by the congregation.
On Sunday afternoon, August 3, 1958, the members and friends of Wilke Church joined together and pulled upon ropes which were attached to an old farm plow. In this fashion, ground was broken for our new one-floor addition (our current educational wing) which provided us with seven modern classrooms, a nursery for infants, four more restrooms and a ladies' lounge. At this same time the parking lot was increased in size, the land for the added parking being donated by Mr. and Mrs. Earl Zell. The Education Wing was dedicated on January 10, 1960 and the mortgage was burned in 1966.
In 1967 our church name was again changed by vote of the congregation to "Oak Hills Methodist Church" in order to identify it by the community location.
In 1968 the United Brethren and the Methodist Churches combined as United Methodists and our local church changed its name again; we are now the "Oak Hills United Methodist Church".
In 1971 our present Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall was built at a cost of $165,000. The cornerstone of the 1849 Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church was incorporated into the Narthex wall of the new Sanctuary.
This is a very short history of our church. It has been pieced together from many sources. Every source indicates that much work, many sacrifices and a tremendous amount of prayers have gone into its building. This has been done so that we could have a house of worship. We must respect the pioneers who have given us so much. They have done this so that we and future generations can enter into the Joy of Salvation.
The
following is a list of our Pastors:
???
S. A. Keen
J. R. Troxell
W. F. Martin
???
C. F. Stevenson
J. L. Childress
???
Charles J. Bernhardt
Lloyd C. Zoller (student)
Harry E. Bright, Jr.
Daniel V. Scovanner
H. E. Armacost
Howard Ivan Guddal
Howard R. Spitnale
Edward D. Brandeberry
J. Frank Ferguson
Joseph E. Henson, Sr.
J. Brooks Gregory
G. Richard Bell
David Phaneuf (student)
Bruce W. Charles
Robert J. Versteeg
Dr. Paul L. Cocklin
1844-1904
1904-1905
1905-1907
1907-1909
1909-1932
1932-1934
1934-1937
1937-1938
1938-1942
1940
1942-1944
1944-1947
1947-1948
1948-1952
1952-1957
1957-1965
1965-1970
1970-1975
1975-1977
1977-1982
1978-1980
1982-1986
1986-1994
1994-
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