Heritage Congregational Christian Church was "gathered" in 1968, in the Congregational way, by a group of Christian families following the leadership of Rev. Richard Pritchard.
The congregation of Temple Beth El, led by the late Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky, extended the hospitality of their synagogue as a place to meet for the purpose of adopting and "owning" the church's covenant - the classical way of starting a Congregational church . There was a thunderstorm during the meeting, and the founding members were greeted by a rainbow upon leaving the temple, seemingly a sign of God's blessing on our new church's covenant and its very existence.
Soon Heritage had a meetinghouse of its own at the corner of Segoe Road and Tokay Boulevard - eventually superseded by our present meetinghouse at 3102 Prairie Road, where the first service was held in December 1991.
Soon after its founding, the church joined the Wisconsin Congregational Association and the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, voluntary fellowships of locally autonomous Congregational churches. We remain a committed member of both associations and our members and ministers have been active participants in the work of the associations throughout the years.
The autonomy of the local congregation is a key principle of Congregationalism. Each local church is free to follow Christ, directly seeking God's will and responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit without constraint by any higher-level hierarchy or ecclesiastical body. We agree with the words of Pastor John Robinson, spoken to the Pilgrims, our spiritual ancestors, before they set sail for America on the Mayflower: "God hath yet more light and truth to break forth from his Holy Word."
This way of being a church together is exciting and intensely rewarding. It is best suited for those willing to take personal responsibility for spiritual and practical issues of life in Christian fellowship.
Led since 2002 by Rev. Cynthia Bacon, the people of Heritage Congregational Church are taking responsibility for providing Christian daycare service on Madison's West Side; helping Congregational missions in the U.S. and foreign countries with our donations and our personal presence and work; assisting the neighborhood outreach efforts of Allied Partners and other local initiatives; and revitalizing our own Sunday worship and our meeting space.
It's a great time to be a member of Heritage Congregational Christian Church.
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