The History Of Crossroads Church

Crossroads Church – a ministry of The Christian Reformed Church

The Christian Reformed Church traces its origin to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century.  Originally it was a part of the Dutch Reformed Church and began in the United States in 1857.

Our local church was established in 1959 to present a Christian witness to Madison and surrounding towns and villages.  The story of the church – then called Madison Christian Reformed Church – began in 1952 with two graduates at the University of Wisconsin.  The two couldn’t find a church worship that was suited to their needs and said “let’s start a church.”

The result was the formation of a group who first met on November 9, 1952.

Classis Wisconsin decided to support the Madison group by sending pastors to help lead the services and preach The Word. With that assistance and continued reaching out and gaining recognition in the city, growth ensued and the church was established.

Under the leadership of Classis WI, the first property was purchased at 705 Tompkins Dr, Monona, WI. But it wasn’t until 1957 with the installation of Rev. Wm Huyser that the congregation moved ahead with their plans. A parsonage was built on the purchased property worship services were held there. Plans for a new church building, (cost $30,000.00) were brought forth. Groundbreaking took place in April 1959. Formal organization of the Madison Church took place. There were Eleven families and two individuals who signed as charter members.

That year, 1959, the newly completed church was dedicated.

By 1964 the church grew to 28 families.  Rev. Hertel became the new pastor. A few years later the campus Ministry was started as well as ministries of Cadets for boys and Calvinettes for girls.

1969 saw another new pastor to lead us – Rev. Gordon Van Enk.  We now had 40 families and needed to expand the facility and that took place in 1975 when we were a church of 52 families.

Rev. Gerald Frens (1979) followed Rev. Van Enk as our pastor and the church began teaching the Bethel Bible series in 1980-83. A few years later (1985) we began the Luke House program of serving meals to the homeless on a routine schedule.

When Pastor Frens moved to Chaplaincy work we called Rev. Tom Haan.  He served as our pastor for 2 years and we grew to 58 families.  Our prayers were answered for a new pastor by Rev. Larry Van Essen when Rev. Haan moved on.

In 1991 our church again grew out of our expanded facilities and a new building was purchases at 3815 Dutch Mill Road in Madison.  It was adequate to continue and grow our ministry with a new name: CROSSROADS CHURCH – A MINISTRY OF THE CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH.

Our expansion helped us minister in many ways.  A Youth Pastor was hired and he had a great group of young people to work with.  They went on Mission trips, we had other youth groups come here, we had concerts, and guest speakers. In 2002 Rev. Doug Van Essen joined as pastor and his work continued thru January of 2021.

Our church continues in faithfulness to our Creator God and the saving work of Jesus Christ.  The Word of God is preached and taught to our children. The Holy Spirit continues to guide us thru each day and year and we strive to be faithful to the ‘faith of our fathers’!

We welcome each and everyone who comes to worship with us and we pray we may be of service to you.