THE HISTORY OF HCC
Heretaunga Community Church has a rich and interesting history, weaving itself into the fabric of Upper Hutt City. Here is a brief outline.
Our church’s roots originate from the 1890s when a group of people came together after attending meetings held by a travelling international evangelist. A few years later they had built a meeting place, known as the ‘Upper Hutt Gospel Hall’. In the early 1900s the church grew as they worshipped God and learnt from His word together.
Before long the church had moved to a new site, closer to the centre of town. However, problems were on the horizon and in 1958 the church split over doctrinal and personality issues. This resulted in the birth of another church, who built their own place to meet, known as ‘Heretaunga Chapel’. Meanwhile, more problems came by way of a fire in the ‘Gospel Hall’ forcing the church to move to a third site. Throughout the rest of the 1900s both churches continued to function in their own right and many good things were achieved in the name of Christ.
This is where our story gets special. As the result of great vision from the Elders of the day, the two churches were reconciled and came back together in the year 2000, forty two years after going their own ways. Both buildings were sold and an existing warehouse was bought and fitted out as a place for our combined church family to meet. This place became known as ‘Heretaunga Christian Centre’. We have met here together ever since, serving Christ in our local community. We were very aware of the value God places on church unity and were so thankful for the restoration He achieved amongst us at that time.
Having now travelled past our 130th anniversary, and with a recent name change to reflect where we sit in our local community, the present leadership of our church has no doubt that God will continue to guide us into the future. We warmly invite you to join us as we seek to live for Jesus and share his love with the people of our church and city.
The Elders (Heretaunga Community Church)