Hillman Church steeped in local history

As Leamington celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, many business and organizations in the area are also celebrating their longevity.

On Sunday, August 18, Hillman Church will mark its 127th anniversary with a celebration beginning at 10 am.

Many of eastern Mersea Township’s more familiar surnames still hang on the walls of the church, where the small congregation still puts on a Sunday church service every weekend.

The Hillman Church had its beginnings as a Sunday School in 1877, but it wasn’t until the cornerstones were laid in 1897 that the group formed and built the church.

And so, the ‘little white church with a heart’ was born, as families from all around the Hillman area began attending the church and Hillman School, which still sits opposite the church at the corner of Mersea Rd. 19 and Mersea Rd. 2. The school’s been closed for about 60 years, but the church still holds all of those memories.

Many of those families were farmers and they all came together to help get the church built.

Dennis Hillman, who takes care of the church for the congregation, says the church is bursting at the seams with local history.

“We’ve got family-upon-family who all have history in this church.

Some of the more common surnames that appear in the church’s long history are Derbyshire, Hillman, Hartwick, Mooney, Reid, Ribble, Sellon and Wiper. Many of those families intermingled through marriage as well.

The foundation cornerstone was laid on August 18, 1897 with about 400 people present. Mr. Ellis Hillman wielded the trowel as $75 was donated by members of the church. Another $65 was raised from a dinner put on by the ladies, $27 from the sale of quilts, $10.45 from the sale of badges and when all of that was added to the money already in the bank, the Hillman Church was paid for before it was complete.

The original name was the Young People’s Sunday School Meeting House, a name that still adorns the signage on the outside of the church to this day.

In the late 1930s, a basement was dug out underneath the church and in the late 1950s an addition was built on the back of the church, which added a kitchen and additional washroom.

And while the church was very busy for many years — to the point that they had to hold a morning and evening service on Sundays — enrollment has dropped over the years, as it has in many congregations.

They currently have a congregation of between 15 and 20 regular members.

It’s a small but mighty group, according to church member Jamie Nash.

“We held 44 Zoom church services during COVID,” he said. “We all had to learn how to use Zoom — and we did — but the true testament is that when we came back to in-person services, they all showed up.”

“There are some positives to a smaller congregation,” added Hillman.

The pair say that they even have a British couple who summers in the area, who attended regularly and even by Zoom after they go back to England.

“Of all the churches in this area, they chose ours,” says Nash. “That’s pretty special.”

Dennis Hillman agrees, saying that the church’s method of having four different speakers alternating each week is something that is becoming more common among smaller rural churches.

When the church held its 60th anniversary in August of 1957, more than 700 people attended the celebration, and again in 1997 when they celebrated 100 years.

And while the numbers may be smaller, the feeling of community and being welcomed with open arms still resonates within those old walls, where the original wooden pews that once held grandparents and great-grandparents are now providing a place to rest for their descendants.

With such a connection to the past, Dennis Hillman says nobody knows what the future will hold.

“Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow may never come,” he said. “So hold on to today because this is your present. And who doesn’t like presents?”