Walker Chapel's History

  Walker Chapel began at a meeting in Mt. Olivet church, a few miles south along Glebe Road, on July 9, 1871. A group of "members and friends of the Methodist Protestant Church" made pledges "for the purpose of building a Methodist Protestant Church at or near Walker's Grave Yard."

The original Walker's Grave Yard is a small plot of land located at the southwest corner of the present cemetery near Old Glebe Road. The first Walker Chapel church was built on that site, and Christmas services were held there in 1871. The completed church was dedicated in July 1876. The first church was a single room clapboard building with a small belfry and a basement for Sunday school.

In 1903, a small white building with a bell tower replaced the first structure. The sanctuary on the main floor had Gothic windows with smoky glass; the lower level included a kitchen and a community room for Sunday school.

After World War II, the growing congregation needed more room; and on July 9, 1951, the 80th anniversary of the founding of Walker Chapel, ground was broken for the construction of the multi-storied education and administration building. This wing of the church was extensively renovated in 1999, and still serves educational and administrative functions

The white brick church we use today was dedicated on Palm Sunday 1960. It features a sanctuary for 300 people, an elevator for access by the handicapped, and a spacious lower level containing a social hall with a stage, a banquet-sized kitchen, and utility and meeting rooms.

Throughout its history Walker Chapel has provided a place of worship, Christian fellowship and service for the North Arlington Community. We continue that tradition today and welcome those seeking a church home.